His Lucky Star
by PhoenixRae
Summary: Astra Sto is an enigma; a deadly enigma with a soft spot for the Doctor. She traveled through time and space in the hopes of averting Armageddon from happening. But even with her diligence she can't stop D-Day from happening. With the fabric of time and space being ripped apart yet again, allies & foes from the past & present collide in a battle for survival.
1. Preface

**Disclaimer:** _Doctor Who_ belongs to BBC and its producers. I am merely borrowing characters from this popular sci-fi series and inserting an original character of my own.

**Author's Note:** So this is my first ever Doctor Who fanfic and I'm pretty nervous about it. This idea for this fic came to me out of nowhere. I really loved "Astrid Peth" from _Voyage of the Damned_ and I wanted to write a fic with her in it, unfortunately it's kinda hard to do that when she's already part of the stars. After some pondering and tinkering I came up with this plot idea out of the blue. Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think of it.

**Summary:** _Astra Sto is an enigma; a deadly enigma with a soft spot for the Doctor. She traveled through time and space, dropping hints and forewarning to the Doctor in the hopes of averting Armageddon from happening. But even with her diligence she can't stop D-Day from happening. With the fabric of time and space being ripped apart yet again by a force so strong it was thought to have been banished, old familiar faces starts converging on Earth; two generation of the Doctor will meet, plus old and new allies will meet along with the mysterious Astra in order to stop this apocalypse._

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PREFACE

_Astrid Peth met her demise onboard the doomed alien cruise ship called the _Titanic _on Christmas Day on Earth. But with the Tenth Doctor's help, her sacrifice was for naught as she was cast into the galaxy as stardust; always flying, always moving, and always seeing new worlds. Unbeknownst to the good Doctor, Astrid has kept a close eye on him from her perch in the big ol' universe. She waited patiently for the right time when she can return the favor to the Doctor._

_ Six years later Astrid's getting her wish…_


	2. I Warning from the Distant Future

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** As an FYI to the readers, this chapter is set _before_ the 9th Doctor met Rose Tyler. Chapter's a bit short, but don't worry, it'll pick up later on. I just need to get the ball rolling.

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I. Warning from the Distant Future

THERE HE WAS MOVING MANIACALLY around his beloved TARDIS flipping a switch here, turning a knob there and bashing a panel over yonder while keeping himself from losing his balance until the small blue police box has come to a full stop. I remained hidden from his view until he has landed his time and spaceship safely. I didn't want to add any further complication to his already complicated machination of his beloved TARDIS.

Finally he landed his ship. Where he landed it this time I have no idea. I wasn't paying attention to where it was he was going; all I was concerned about was to find him some time in his past before we met on the _Titanic_.

"Hello, Doctor," I greeted slowly materializing before him on the walkway leading to the TARDIS' entrance and exit.

The Doctor came to an abrupt halt when he saw me. I do not know if it was my ghostly appearance (I am astral projecting myself into the TARDIS) or if it was me in general that shocked the life out of him. This wasn't the Doctor I met onboard the _Titanic_ during that fateful journey; he was the Doctor before he was _my_ Doctor. He was taller, not too skinny and his shoulders seemed broader and wider than the Doctor I met in the future. Also he had a thing for an all black attire and leather jacket. This Doctor looked like he was carrying all the anger in the world, and rightfully so since he was the Doctor who was borne of the Time War (I had plenty of time to learn about the Doctor while flitting about the galaxy and checking up on him from time to time since he set me free). He was still carrying the painful memory of that past and his home planet of Gallifrey.

"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice booming and deep.

"A friend," I answered.

"How did you get in here?"

I looked down at my near-ghostly appearance then looked back at him. I quirked an eyebrow and gave him a pointed look.

"Technically I am not even _in_ your ship," I told him.

He gave me a long once over, his eyes carefully moving up and down my form as if he was assessing whether my presence was a threat to his well-being or not.

"Who are you?" he repeated the question, this time he sounded less defensive and more inquisitive.

"I came here to warn you."

"Warn me about what?"

I know I cannot tamper with time, but I cannot risk losing him in the process. I have seen the future and saw what was to come. I knew what was to happen to him and deep inside me I knew that wasn't right. I will have a hell to pay for meddling, but I needed to warn him; to embed in the deep recesses of his mind of what was to come and what needs to be done.

"Armageddon."

His tall forehead creased to a frown. He soundlessly repeated the word I just said.

"Where? When?"

"I already said too much."

"No, you bloody haven't! You barely told me anything at all except for Armageddon!" I got him all riled up now. This Doctor still hasn't learned to control his emotions.

I wanted to tell him more, but I knew I must keep my mouth shut now. I went back a bit too far in the Doctor's timeline than I intended to warn him.

"I'm sorry," I apologized while slowly dematerializing before him. "Just be careful," I warned before I completely dematerialized. I didn't leave the TARDIS right away. I remained inside watching him.

He looked baffled as well he should be. He was still healing after escaping the Time War. He hasn't met Rose Tyler yet, the woman who helped him heal and slowly change to become the man he was when our paths crossed.

He hasn't moved yet from where I left him standing. He was probably processing what just happened. I hovered over him and whispered in his ear, "We will meet again, Doctor," I promised before leaving the TARDIS completely.


	3. II Ten Meets Astrid

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** How are you enjoying this fic so far? Is the pacing too slow? Are the characters not making sense? Don't worry, it will soon make sense – I hope! Anyway, vying for at least 6 Reviews for this chapter (it will fuel the plot bunnies). Oh yeah, before you all scream PLAGARISM, I am using some of the lines from the Christmas special _Voyage of the Damned_ for certain scenes. Don't worry, it is interspersed with some original lines from me.

**Song Inspiration for this Chapter:** "Halo" by Beyonce

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II. Ten Meets Astrid

THIS WAS WRONG. I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM HERE watching this. But I am here and that was me smiling and nodding and fetching some rich bloke or lady his or her drink; waiting on tables like I always did even back at home in Sto. Everyone onboard the _Titanic _was having a jolly good time as we traveled across the galaxy and now passing by the exotic planet called Earth.

I haven't spotted the Doctor yet. To be honest I didn't know how he came onboard the ship. He said he was a stowaway, and I believed him. He told me he his ship had a mishap with the _Titanic _and that was how he got to come onboard. Later on in the evening I will see his spaceship floating along with the rest of the wreckage out in space, but unlike the wreckage his beloved TARDIS will fall to Earth as the planet's gravity pulls it to safety thus making it impossible for the Doctor to get us to abandon ship.

_Crash!_

Oh, there's my cue. I looked around and found myself being berated by that snotty Rickston Slade. You have no idea how much I wanted to bash those broken pieces of glass on his arrogant face, but I knew my place and at the time I was worried about losing my job and the chance to travel the stars so I accepted every insult he threw at me then went to pick up the shattered glasses pieces after he walked away…

ASTRID GRITTED HER TEETH HARD to stop herself from telling that bloody snot off. She picked up the shattered pieces of glass and put them back on her tray. It wasn't her fault the idiot wasn't paying attention to where he was going. She was good at swerving left or right and ducking out of the way if she had to without spilling a drink. If he wasn't too busy yapping on his blasted phone he'd be more alert to his surroundings.

"Careful, there we go," said a friendly if not slightly high-pitched male voice.

Astrid was still annoyed about her encounter with the snotty passenger that she gave this Good Samaritan a starchy, "Thank you, sir. I can manage."

"I never said you couldn't. I'm the Doctor, by the way."

Astrid wasn't in the mood to be friendly with any of the passengers right now. Although majority of the passengers she served this evening were nice, still, they always had this look in their eyes that made her feel that her status was beneath them.

"Astrid, sir. Astrid Peth," she answered automatically and looked at him for the first time. She was surprised at how boyishly handsome he was, and charming too as well as gallant. He was grabbing the other shattered glass pieces and placing them back on her tray. None of the other passengers ever did that. They just walked on by her as if she was nothing and let her finish cleaning up.

"Nice to meet you, Astrid. Merry Christmas," he smiled.

Astrid was rendered speechless for a mere few seconds. He sounded genuinely pleased to meet her, and his felicitation sounded genuine as well.

"Merry Christmas, sir."

"Just Doctor, no 'sir'," he corrected.

He was cute. And young. Astrid figured he was around her age or maybe older by a year or two if not younger. Heck, she'd be thrilled if they were the same age!

"Say, have we met before?" he asked, a frown creasing his face.

"Have you been to Sto?" she asked.

"No, I don't believe I have," he answered truthfully, confusion still etched on his face.

"Then I can safely answer that we _haven't_ met yet," she smiled.

He still looked befuddled, as if he was racking his brain trying to remember where he have seen her before, but Astrid knew there was no way their paths could've crossed previously.

"Are you enjoying the cruise?" As soon as the words were out of her mouth she mentally cursed herself. What a stupid question to ask, but that was the question embedded in her subconscious during those long hours of training before they sailed away from Sto. Also she needed to break the awkward silence between them.

"Um, yeah. I suppose. I don't know," he sounded uncertain and that made her look up at him again. "It doesn't quite work, a cruise on your own."

"You're not with anyone?" she asked pushing herself up to her feet.

The Doctor followed her suit and stood up as well.

"No, no, just me. Just…uh, used to be, but…uh, no," he sounded melancholy for a moment there, but before Astrid could ask him what he meant he was quick to ask, "What about you? Long way from home, planet Sto."

Astrid gave a careless shrug, her gaze moving away from the Doctor to watching the other passengers mingle and be merry. "Doesn't feel that different," she answered. She took a step closer to him and dropped her voice so only the Doctor could hear what she was saying, "Spent three years working at the Spaceport Diner. Travelled all the way here and I'm still waiting on tables," she finished then walked away to continue bussing other tables.

She was surprised when he followed and struck up a conversation with her. It was quite an enlightening conversation that bordered to a slight flirtation. Astrid was easily charmed by the handsome travelling stowaway, and he wasn't that hard on the eyes either.

Astrid knew nothing was going to come off her flirting with a passenger – stowaway or otherwise – but something about the Doctor made her forget her number one rule: never fraternize with passengers. And she was thankful that she befriended him. He gave her a treat no other passenger onboard would be willing to give her the rare treat of accompanying them on an expedition down to Earth.

She was over the moon even though it was a short-lived expedition. They were abruptly transported back to the ship due to some malfunction on the ship. After that all hell broke loose.

I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM WATCHING THIS. I didn't know what possessed me. Maybe it was that playful banter we shared over leftover food; an unspoken promise of a future with him, then later on a promise of stowing away in his small blue box spaceship and flying off to faraway places. Regardless, the Doctor gave me a glimmer of hope, that proverbial light at the end of the tunnel whenever everything around us was falling apart and death was creeping up on us slowly.

My heroic moment has come. Max Capricorn just ordered his Hosts to terminate the Doctor. I can't let that happen. So I hopped on to a forklift I didn't know I could drive and rammed it straight to that box of a poor excuse of a cyborg (he wasn't a man anymore, and even if he was I don't think I could ever think of him as such because of his sheer cruelty).

But the Doctor wouldn't give up on me. He wanted to save me, but it was already too late. He couldn't retrieve me back after I fell pushing Capricorn off the ledge.

The Doctor now left Mr. Copper's side and was walking towards me. Well, the echo of my once humanoid form.

_"Astrid Peth, citizen of Sto, the woman who looked at the stars and dreamt of travelling. There's an old tradition."_ His face when he spoke those words spoke of his emotions at the moment. He moved closer to where I was projected, leaned down, cupped the side of my face and planted the sweetest goodbye kiss before taking a step back. _"Now you can travel forever,"_ he announced and took out his sonic screwdriver, pointed it at the window and opened it.

I watched myself transform into a thousand or so tiny stars as my atoms were pulled out the window and thrust on to wondrous universe outside the ship. As I was being pulled away I heard the Doctor spoke one last time.

_"You're not falling, Astrid. You're flying."_

It broke my heart then to leave him. And it broke my heart now to watch myself leave him a second time. I didn't know why I came back to this timeline. I wanted to inhabit my old body and use myself to warn him, but I couldn't find it in myself to do so. I knew if I inhabit my old self I wouldn't want to leave; I knew what was to happen and I'd change history by saving myself. I have my own weakness, and I'd screw everything up if I did what I intended to do. But instead of leaving and finding another time to warn the Doctor, I chose to stay and watch the whole thing unfold. I guess it was the romantic in me who wanted to relieve those few stolen moments I had with the Doctor.


	4. III the Unexpected Companion

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** Still with me on this third chapter? I promise it will pick-up soon. I needed to get the first three chapters done and out of the way to pave the way for the rest of this fic. Feed the plot bunnies please - they like to munch on reviews...

**Song Inspiration for this Chapter:** "Help" by Big Time Rush

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III. the Unexpected Companion

SHE WAITED QUIETLY AND PATIENTLY for him to appear. She knew she wasn't the only one lying in wait for the Time Lord to arrive. She felt the others' presence looming nearby; hiding from plain sight ready to attack the poor unsuspecting Doctor as soon as he arrives. They wouldn't have a chance to lay one finger or claw on him if she had her way. They'd have to go through her first before they touched a hair or skin of the Doctor.

Astra Sto laid flat on the mossy ground with occasional pointy and very sharp rocks protruding from the mosses on this alien planet eons of years away from Earth. She locked in on the TARDIS' next point of destination and actually beat the Doctor and his trusty spaceship-slash-time machine from arriving in Phizix, a mediocre-sized planet mostly populated by Pizes, a spliced humanoid and animal with decaying skin and a thirst for flesh and blood. Why the Doctor chose this planet to go to Astra does not know. All she knew was he needed someone to save his behind as soon as she stepped out of the safety of his TARDIS.

So she lay in wait, pressed hard against the ground and trying not to make any sound. She didn't want the Pizes to find her and feast on _her_ flesh before the Doctor got here. Her main purpose for coming here was to catch the Doctor without any of his usual companions about. She knew Armageddon was coming, and it was moving on faster than anticipated. She was ripping through time like a maniac trying to coincide with the Doctor before it was too late.

Closing her eyes, Astra forced herself to relax and catch a wink or two. She was no use to the Doctor if she was dead tired. She camouflaged herself so none of the Pizes roaming about could find her while she nods off for a bit. She only needed forty winks tops then she'd be back in tip-top shape ready to help the Doctor from being attacked. She still can't believe he chose a cannibalistic planet to visit. Was the man courting disaster on purpose or what?

ASTRA WOKE UP WITH A START. She was jolted awake from her sleep when she heard heavy hooves and foot falls headed her way. She quickly orientated herself and did a back-flip stand to give her surrounding a quick survey. She must've dozed off longer than she anticipated.

It took Astra a while to get her bearings together and found out the source of what woke her up. She was still camouflaged so she wasn't worried about being spotted by the Pizes. She could still hear the stampeding sound headed her way, and after a few seconds the source came visible to her and she could not believe what was coming towards her.

"You have got to be joking me," she said under her breath then quickly moved out of the way as a hoard of Pizes came thundering towards where she'd been hiding led by none other than the skinny suit-clad Doctor with the tails of his long brown trench coat flapping about behind him as he ran in full speed towards the TARDIS.

Astra prepared herself for battle – if need be – as she watched the Doctor running as fast as his long skinny legs could take him. He was screaming – or was he yelling? – something incomprehensible as while pointing his sonic screwdriver randomly over his head without aiming at anything in particular.

He was using his trusty sonic as weapon.

"He'd have a far better luck if he had the Master's laser screwdriver if he wanted to slow down those Pizes on his tail," Astra mumbled under her breath. She began to move adjacent to where the Doctor was. She had a better luck of reaching him unhindered since she was still undetectable to the Pizes, but she knew sooner or later she would need to let down her camouflage and use herself as bait to divert the Pizes attention from the Doctor to herself.

NEED SOME HELP?"

The Tenth Doctor stared wildly at the blond woman dressed in black very tight-fitting leather pants, black knee-high steel-toed boots, rose red sleeveless long coat that was fastened over her chest but remains open at the midriff, showing off her nicely toned abs. Her hair was wavy and loose, shimmering like starlight when she ran as she matched her running speed with his. She was a pretty girl he had to admit to that. And she was nicely built too. But one question remained hanging and he needed it answered right away.

"Where did you come from?" he demanded, his forehead creased to a confused frown.

Blondie rolled her eyes skyward at him and looked over her shoulder. He did the same too and saw that the Pizes were gaining on them – and fast!

"Does that matter?" she asked. She pulled something holstered behind her coat and when her hand appeared from behind her once again something tiny was latched on to her hand and wrist.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Something to help slow them down," she answered vaguely then twisted her body sideways away from him, turn her arm palm-up and something small and silver shot out from the contraption latched to her wrist. It flew in full speed and hit not one but at least three Pizes in a row.

The Doctor watched the three spliced animal-humanoid creatures split open in half and fell with loud thuds against their charging companions.

"You don't have to kill them!" he yelled in alarmed outraged at his unwanted companion.

Blondie shot him a slicing glare. "It's either us or them," she told him matter-of-factly. "And at the rate we're going it looks like their chances of eating us both alive is not looking so slim," she pointed out.

"We're almost close to safety!" the Doctor yelled.

"Oh yeah? Well until we reach this safety you're talking about let me worry about slowing those Pizes down." Her eyes dropped to his sonic screwdriver and gave it a sardonic look. "At least _my_ weapon's actually slowing them down," she added before turning her full attention back on the oncoming Pizes hot on their tail.

The Doctor growled. He eyed the small weapon on her arm, but there was nothing he could do to stop her from taking aim and splitting the Pizes in half.

"Can't that weapon of yours _hinder_ them instead of slicing them to death?" he asked.

Blondie turned back to look at him with one eyebrow raised. He thought she was going to argue, but instead of saying something smart back to him she fiddled with something on her wrist and when she next took aim at the charging Pizes it knocked the poor creature down but left it fully intact. She looked back at him and smirked.

"Happy?"

"Cheeky wench," he mumbled under his breath.

She gave him a wide grin, making her face glow like the sun or moon when it was at its fullest. The Doctor found himself unwillingly returning her grin, his initial irritation at her waning just a tad bit.

Blondie looked after slowing down the Pizes while he steered them towards where he left the TARDIS. Once the old blue police box came into view he reached beside him and grabbed her arm. With a snap of his fingers the TARDIS door opened and he shoved her first inside before following suit. He turned to close the door as the stampeding Pizes came barreling towards them.

"_Close it!_" Blondie screamed in the background and he didn't need to be told twice before slamming the door on the Pizes moments before they felt – and heard – the loud thuds against the TARDIS as the Pizes tried to get in.

"We're safe in here," the Doctor announced as he walked backwards on the ramp leading to the main console of the ship.

Blondie followed him and stood by one of the pillars while he fiddled with the necessary bottoms, levers and panels to get the TARDIS going.

"Hold on!" he called out as the box started to making its signature loud whooshing sound.

"Where are we going?" she asked while hanging on to one of the side bars to keep herself from falling.

"Somewhere far away from here," he answered looking at the monitor and plotting their next course of destination.

"Are we returning back to Earth?" she asked.

"Maybe," he answered vaguely. "I'm the Doctor, by the way," he introduced himself. He really wanted to know her name since he didn't want to call her 'Blondie' for however long the duration of their time together will be.

"Astra," she answered.

"Astra," he repeated her name under his breath. Somehow the name suited her. "I knew a girl once. Her name was Astrid," he said out loud.

"Really? What happened to her?"

He didn't answer right away. It has been a while – a very long while – since he last thought of Astrid. He still felt bereft about losing her when he knew he was able to save her if only the _Titanic_ had enough power to boost the bracelet she had when she fell to save his life.

"Doctor?" Astra questioned. She moved away from the railing and was now standing near him by the console. The TARDIS was in full flight now heading to their next destination.

"She fell," he answered his voice breaking as he recalled that night.

"I'm sorry," Astra cast her gaze down. She reached over and covered his hand with hers. This gesture surprised the Doctor and made him look at her in alarm. She gave him a soft smile, setting her face aglow once again. "I'm sure she's happy now," she told him.

"I helped her fly and be a part of the stars she dreamt of seeing," he answered.

"And for that she's ever so much thankful."

The Doctor frowned at her response. She sounded as if she knew Astrid.

"Who are you?" he asked again.

Astra removed her hand from where it covered his and gave him a simple smile. "I told you, I'm Astra."

"Yes…yes, you said you are Astra and yet…why is it that I feel like I know you?" he mused.

Astra bit on her lower lip, her sea blue eyes remained locked with his and she gave him a one-shoulder shrug.

"Maybe you do know me," she said teasingly.

"Yes…maybe I do," the Doctor agreed.


	5. IV Friend or Foe?

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** I'm thinking of making this an interactive fanfic wherein I receive not just feedbacks but suggestions from readers (if you are interested). I like listening to music while working & I need some good tunes to help _inspire_ me when I'm working on a certain scene or chapter. Like for example the previous chapter, _the Unexpected Companion_, I was inspired by BTR's rendition of the Beatles' "Help" & IMO it fit the chapter. So, if you have any song suggestions, leave it in the comments section & the person whose song suggestion I pick/use for inspiration will have the next chapter dedicated to him/her. How's that sound? Hope you play along & I keep my word of dedicating the next chapter to the lucky person whose song suggestion gets used.

**Song Inspiration for this Chapter:** "Secrets" by One Republic

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IV. Friend or Foe?

ASTRA'S BEEN TRAVELLING WITH THE DOCTOR for three days now since teaming up in Phizix and got away from the carnivorous Pizes without missing any vital parts of their being. The Doctor was still puzzling over who she really was and how she appeared running beside him back in Phizix.

"Three days now we've been traveling and still you are mum about where you came from or on _how_ you manage to be in Phizix the same time I was there," the Doctor was sitting on the chair by the console. They were in-flight to destination unknown at least as far as Astra was concerned she has no idea where the Doctor was taking her.

"Does it really matter that much to you where I come from?" Astra asked. She was seated balancing herself on the railing and using one of the pillars for support.

"Maybe not," he shrugged but he was still watching her. "Why were in you Phizix?" he asked.

"Why were you?" she asked back.

"Vacation destination," he answered.

Astra cocked an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

The Doctor looked offended that she didn't take his word at face value. He sat up straighter then. "What about you?"

"Stranded," Astra accompanied the white lie with a long sigh then jumped off the railing. She walked over to the control panels but didn't touch anything.

"Stranded?" he echoed. "How?"

"You are full of questions, aren't you, Doctor," she chuckled, her gaze slowly moving from the controls to where the man captaining the TARDIS sat.

The Doctor didn't look away when their gaze met. He gave her a level look, a slight smirk showing on his lips, but his eyes were dead serious. Astra felt intimidated by his mere stare – and it wasn't even the deadly stare he often has when he was annoyed or pissed or ready to end someone's existence. But she kept her cool, straightened her shoulders more and held his stare.

"You are being evasive," he observed.

"Gee, you're smart," she teased and walked away from the controls. She slowly walked around the bridge, trailing her finger on the side of the control panel. "You are one perceptive man, Lord Doctor," she mused.

The Doctor smiled looking very pleased, but then his face was suddenly marred by a frown and he was back to giving her that look he had been giving her this three days past.

"You called me 'Lord Doctor,'" he said.

"Yeah," Astra nodded.

"_Nobody_ calls me that. It's just 'Doctor' all the time."

"So?" Astra paused halfway near him on the other side of the console. She lifted and dropped one shoulder in a shrug. "You are a Time Lord, aren't you?"

"Y-y-yes, I am," he shot out of his seat and closed the short distance separating them. Unlike his previous companions he didn't have to look down when standing almost toe to toe against Astra; he guessed she was somewhere between five-eight and five-ten in height whilst he stood an inch over six feet. It wasn't easy to intimidate someone who was almost nose to nose with him, but he could still try and hoped his glare alone could make this mysterious – if not quite intriguing – woman waver under his glare.

"No one outside the Time Lords has ever addressed me as such."

Astra's brow slowly rose when she heard agitation lacing the usually cool, calm and composed Doctor's tone. She straightened her spine, squared her shoulders and jutted her chin without breaking eye contact with him. He was trying to intimidate her with his stare, but she was a fast learner and knew what he was about and she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her squirm underneath his glare.

"Well, maybe it's about time somebody did," she answered.

Silence. The Doctor continued to glare at her, his jaw moving but his mouth wasn't opening. No sound was coming from him, but Astra knew he was itching to say something, to berate her or whatever.

"What say you, Doc-tah?" Astra closed their already close distance by taking a step forward until they can feel each other's breaths.

The Doctor took a long deep breath. Clearly he underestimated his new albeit unexpected companion. She was made of sterner stuff and can play dirty too.

"Nothing," he answered after a while. He cleared his throat and took a step back; his eyes still locked with hers and repeated, "Just…nothing." He took another step back. He was the first to break eye contact slowly lowering his gaze then turned his back on her and walked away.

Astra had a smart comeback to say to him, but when she saw the crestfallen look on his face she bit back her retort. She was expecting to see more fire from him. She thought by calling him 'Lord Doctor' it would add more fuel to his fire, instead it did the opposite and he backed down and walked away. Very unlike the Doctor she knew. And that bothered her – a lot.

ASTRA FOUND THE DOCTOR HIDING OUT in one of the many rooms the TARDIS boast. She was given a room of her own to use after they left Phizix. She barely moved around the ship; she only familiarized herself with her own sleeping quarters, the bridge and the galley, other than those places she never ventured much anywhere until now.

"Wow, this is something," Astra let out a low whistle as she entered what she believed was the library. Shelves upon shelves of books lined up the walls from floor to ceiling with spiraling staircases allowing a person to step on the numerous walkways to survey the contents of each array of book shelves. She stopped right in the center of the room, gave the whole place a complete three-sixty turn before her eyes fastened on the person she was searching for.

The Doctor was on the third floor sitting with his legs hanging off the walkway.

"Would you care for some company?" she asked.

"I care for some peace and quiet," he answered back.

"Are you saying I am not peaceful and quiet?" She sounded dejected.

The Doctor looked down from his perch at her then. The look he gave her spoke volumes, and Astra didn't need him to tell him what that look was for.

"We were under attack," she argued. "I don't want to die so my survival instinct kicked in," she reasoned with him.

"Still," he tsked.

Astra glared up at him.

The Doctor gave her a cocky grin.

"Okay, so we can argue about me being 'peaceful', but you can't say I am not quiet."

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow at her claim but didn't say anything. Again the look he gave her spoke volumes.

"I _am_ quiet," she insisted.

"If you say so," he rolled his eyes and looked away.

Astra glared at the man. "_You_ are sporting for a fight, Lord Doctor," she hissed angrily.

He just smirked but didn't say anything. Astra stalked up the spiral staircases until she reached the walkway where the Doctor was. Without waiting to be invited she plopped herself down beside him and hung her legs off the side too.

They sat in silence for the next few minutes, neither one spoke nor moved; both staring off at the rows and rows of books across from them; both said nothing; both waiting for the other to break the ice and speak first.

"I told myself I wouldn't pick-up another companion for the rest of my journeys," the Doctor spoke first, surprising both himself and Astra when he was the first to break the silence.

"That doesn't sound like a happy journey to take."

"Yeah," he agreed. He looked down at his hands and let out a long sigh. "I don't think I can handle suffering from another heartbreak when the journey comes to an end," he confessed.

Astra studied his profile. For the first time in three days the Doctor's happy-go-lucky façade disappeared and instead his real feelings surfaced. She inched closer to him until the sides of their thighs were touching. She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him towards her. The Doctor twisted his body sideways and leaned in to her embrace and buried his face between his shoulders while his shoulders rocked from the silent tears he hadn't allowed himself to shed until now.

Astra didn't say anything. Words weren't needed when action spoke louder than them. She engulfed the sobbing Doctor in her arms, comforting him the only way she could without embarrassing him for breaking down in front of a complete stranger. But she felt his pain and heartache when he spoke. He didn't elaborate much, but she was able to comprehend what he was talking about. She lends him her shoulder until he was done crying. When he was through and he moved away from her embrace she didn't bombard him with questions. Their eyes locked when he lifted his head from her shoulder. She was surprised to see his true age in his eyes. He might look young, but his eyes spoke volumes of the years he has lived and seen.

Wordlessly he conveyed his thanks for allowing him to unload his emotions on her. One thing the Doctor misses about having a companion onboard the TARDIS was the accessibility they offered whenever he needed to get something off his chest. He needed someone to talk things out with him; _reason_ with him and take the opposite side of the argument to help him see things more clearly.

He tried opening his mouth to say something, but Astra placed her index finger against his lips to silence him.

"You're welcome," she smiled and planted a quick peck on the tip of his nose before she stood up and descended the stairs. She exited the library without a backwards glance, leaving the Doctor to enjoy the privacy he sought to have when he walked away from her on the bridge.


	6. V Start of Something

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** This will be an AU _Planet of the Dead_ version since I am putting my OC on the bus that went to another planet. It will still follow the same plot – almost – but not entirely so since I need to insert my OC in certain scenes as much as possible.

* * *

V. Beginning of Something…

ASTRA WAS STILL WITH THE DOCTOR WHEN he returned back to present day Earth – London to be exact – hot on the trail of a mysterious vortex or ripple or something technical he babbled on about en route to their current destination. He got so excited suddenly when he found out about it and started talking at a hundred miles per second. Astra stopped listening or trying to understand what he was going on about after the first two seconds of his explanation.

"Did all your previous companions do a lot of running, _marathon_ running, like this?" Astra asked when she had time to catch her breath in-between chases of God knows what the Doctor was chasing after.

The Doctor looked over his shoulder at her while he held aloft some device he put together to track down this rift that was amassing somewhere in London. Clearly he was too lost in whatever it was he was doing since he asked, "What are you going on about?"

Astra wished she had laser vision at that very moment. Here she was gasping for breath after running around the city searching for whatever and he didn't even know she was with him. How daft was that?

"Are you really an uncaring cad?" she snapped. She took a deep breath before slowly straightening up and closed the distance between them. She has caught her breath by now and would be ready for another round of running around chasing whatever.

The Doctor gave her one of his innocent pouty looks and gave a careless shrug. "I have to. Don't want to get hurt. Must keep distance and…oooh, this has caught something," and off he went chasing whatever his device picked up yet again.

Astra let out a frustrated growl under her breath and sprinted after the Doctor. He zigged and zagged between people as he followed the trail. Astra wasn't far behind but picking up her momentum in case the Doctor pulled another fast one on her and disappears before she could catch up to him. She came to a skidding stop when she saw him charm an Easter egg chocolate from an unsuspecting female who appeared to be greatly charmed by the good Doctor and walked away with the female's hardly eaten chocolate. Since the Doctor appeared to slow down in his pursuit of this wormhole, Astra speed-walked up to him and on instinct hooked her arm to his as they both walked towards the stopped red double-decker bus.

"Care to explain why you relieved that woman off her sweets?" she questioned.

"Hm?" he gave her one of his absentminded looks then glanced down at the chocolate in his hand. "Oh, this…well, conversation starter," he replied before pocketing the chocolate.

Astra was still full of questions for him but that had to wait as they were now boarding the bus. The Doctor pulled out his wallet containing his psychic paper and pressed it against the scanner by the driver. Astra disengaged her arm from the Doctor's and grabbed something akin to what the Doctor used and quickly scanned it on the scanner as well before following her companion down the bus aisle. She sat in the very back behind a dark skinned couple while the Doctor sat down beside a dark haired girl sporting a black leather jacket.

Astra watched the Doctor do his thing from where she sat. Like what he told her, he used the chocolate he pilfered from that besotted woman to start a conversation with the woman beside him. She couldn't quite hear what they were discussing, but she saw him take out that blasted tracking device and started talking technical babble with his obviously uninterested seatmate. He must've caught sight of her from his peripheral and he briefly looked at her to let her know he knows she was still there.

"Good to know he still knows I'm here," Astra mumbled under her breath and slouched down in her seat.

"He's starting to care for you, but he is fighting against it," said the dark skinned woman in front of her. She turned sideways and addressed Astra.

"I beg your pardon?" Astra was surprised the woman heard her. She didn't think she uttered her opinion loud enough for her to hear.

"He cares, don't think he doesn't," was the woman's cryptic message before facing front once again, leaving Astra mulling over what she meant.

She was pondering on what the woman meant when suddenly all hell broke loose. Everyone inside the bus started screaming and she was being shuffled about like some piece of trash. She saw the Doctor get on his feet and she left her seat to speak to him.

The bus lurched and twisted suddenly the moment Astra was off her seat. She missed grabbing on to anything to steady her and the next thing she knew she was being thrown forward, hitting something non-metal as she did so and both of them fell with a thud on the bus' aisle floor. Pandemonium still reigned around them as screams from the other passengers and the sound of bending metal and exploding windows surround them. Astra felt the person she collided with pull her close to his body, one arm wrapped protectively around her waist and his hand cradling her head as he pressed her face against his chest whilst he half lay on top of her probably shielding her from whatever debris might fall on them until the bus stopped thrashing everyone about.

Astra didn't know how long the commotion lasted. She was frozen on the spot when she realized who it was she crashed in to and the person holding her tenderly close to him and protecting her.

"Are you alright?" he whispered over her head.

It was the jolt she needed to bring her back to the present. She didn't trust her voice so she nodded instead. It was a jerky nod but a nod nevertheless. She pulled her head away from his chest and slowly let her gaze travel up until she was looking him in the eyes. She saw concern and worry momentarily cross his puppy brown eyes before he concealed it.

"Hello," she whispered meekly.

The Doctor looked down at her a bewildered expression briefly crossed his face before he smiled down at her. "Hello," he greeted back.

Astra grinned like a satisfied child on Christmas morning and the Doctor grinned back at her. Some unspoken understanding passed between them and they both chuckled. They forgot about the rest of the people on the bus with them until the woman the Doctor was sitting with burst their bubble and invaded their private space.

"If you two are done making googley-eyes at each other, the rest of us are going to go outside and assess the damage," she said and without waiting for either the Doctor or her to move the dark haired woman hopped over them and filed out of the bus with the others.

The Doctor frowned at the rude woman's back. Astra disentangled herself from the Doctor's protective embrace and pushed herself upright. She leaned down and offered her hand to him. He looked confused at her when he saw her hand, then he comprehended what she meant and grabbed it to help push himself upright.

"I better go outside with them," he told her then left without waiting to hear her response.

Astra watched him exit the bus. She remained inside along with the couple who was seated in front of her while everybody else investigated what happened. She kept an eye out on the Doctor from inside the bus and tried to listen in to what the others were talking about. She heard him mention something about a wormhole situated behind the bus, but before he could further expound on the intricacies of said portal the bus driver made a run for it thinking he'd make it home alive.

He didn't. He disintegrated to nothing but bones the moment his body made contact with the wormhole.

Astra averted her gaze from the window and closed her eyes to send a silent prayer for the poor bus driver. If they crossed through some kind of wormhole then it was by sheer luck that they all survived the crossover; the bus took the brunt of the crossover hence why they were thrown about like rags.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA ON HOW we're going to leave this place?" Astra asked the Doctor after everyone trooped back inside the bus. The dark haired woman – whose name was Christina – designated herself leader of the pack and told everyone to go back inside the bus and figure out a way to leave this alien desert planet.

"Working on it," he answered. They were seated on the back of the bus along with Lou and Carmen, the couple who was sitting in front of Astra before they got transported to another world.

"Any chance you'll figure something out before we all die of old age or worse, perish from dehydration?"

The Doctor cast her a slightly annoyed look. Astra just cocked an eyebrow at him then jerked her head towards Christina. "I don't think _she_ has a clue on how we can leave this planet," she dropped her voice and leaned her head closer to him so he was the only one who can hear what she said.

The Doctor cast a brief look at the sassy brunette then looked back at Astra. He dragged in a long, deep breath and said, "Yeah."

"So?" she prodded.

"So?" he looked confused.

"_Do_ something," she hissed.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You're the Doctor. You're the man with the plan, at least a-plan-in-progress as you go along. Figure something out."

Frustration etched the Doctor's face as he got into a glaring fest with Astra. He was working on a plan, but with Christina deciding to appoint herself leader, he couldn't really do much except follow unless he was ordered by her to do something else otherwise.

He studied each and every person on the bus with them. With the exception of Astra and himself, everyone else was human with a secret or two. They already figured that Carmen was a seer, and her gift was only intensified by being on an alien planet. He noticed Barclay, one of the other male passengers, fiddling with his cell phone when an idea struck him.

"Would you mind if I borrow your phone for a bit, mate?" he asked.

"There's no reception," the young dark skinned man pointed out.

"I know, but right now your mobile phone's our only chance of reaching someone on the other side of the rift," the Doctor explained.

Barclay didn't look convinced, but he handed his mobile phone to the Doctor anyway.

"Thanks," he smiled then pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He pointed it at the mobile phone for a few seconds then started dialing a number he claimed to be all too familiar with.

"Pizza delivery place? Seriously?" Astra ridiculed.

"Oi! Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. They got the best pizza I've ever tasted this side of the Earth. Well, not _this_ Earth since this isn't Earth-Earth, but you know what I mean," he sounded offended at the slight on his favourite pizza place.

"He's right, you know?" Barclay agreed. Obviously he and the Doctor patronize the same pizza place.

"Nah, that place doesn't even come close to…"

And so everyone on the bus was brought to life arguing about which pizza place served the best, most authentic Italian pizza ever. Astra was immensely amused by the passion these people have for pizza and listened intently as they list out their reasons proving why the pizzeria they patronize was the best. The only ones who didn't pay much attention to them was the Doctor, who was now speaking to someone on the mobile, and Christina, who never left his side ever since she realized he was the smartest of them all on this bus.

Astra moved away from the others and joined the Doctor and Christina at the front of the bus. She was about to open her mouth to ask who he was talking to, but the Doctor put his index finger to his lips signaling her to not speak. She looked past him and delivered a questioning look at Christina, but all the other woman could give her was a shrug. So she stood on the opposite side of the Doctor and waited until he concluded his phone call.

HOW ON THIS DESERT ALIEN WORLD ARE WE going to get this bus to move?" Christina demanded after she heard the Doctor's plan. He was on the phone for a while talking to someone who was on the other side of the rift ready to fire at anything and everything that rips through it.

"First things first, Christina," he said and moved in to the middle of the bus to address everybody. "We first need to figure out the extent of the damage the bus took. Now we all know that the exterior was heavily damaged and the tires are buried in sand. Also we can't start the blasted thing because sand flooded the engine," he pointed out the obvious problems.

"There's nothing we can do about the exterior damage," Astra pointed out.

"Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious," Christina chided.

Astra shot her a scathing glare. That shut the know-it-all woman right away and took a tentative step back away from her. Astra caught the Doctor looking at her, amusement etched on his boyishly handsome face but he was doing his best not to show any reaction to what just happened.

"But there's something we can do about the stuck tires and the engine," Astra continued after ignoring Christina's remark.

"She's right," the Doctor agreed. "Anybody here know anything about engines?"

"I've tinkered with vehicles before," Nathan, the other male passenger, answered.

"And I took some lessons, but I didn't finish it though," Barclay added.

"Brilliant," the Doctor smiled. "You lads see what you can do about the engines. Clean it up, unclog it – just make sure that it starts," he ordered then sent the two men on their way.

"We can use the backs of the seats to put in front or behind the tires of the bus so we can at least move it on something flat," Angela, another female passenger, suggested.

"Great!" the Doctor giggled. "Astra will help you with that," he said and pointed Angela towards Astra's direction.

"And you?" Astra demanded.

"_I_ will assess our situation, check the perimeter and whatnot. Assess any threats that might come our way while we work on getting this bus to move," he answered.

"And I'm coming with you," Christina's tone didn't brook any argument. She grabbed her backpack, slung it over one shoulder and followed the Doctor.

The Doctor paused by the doorway ready to argue, but the look on the brunette's face made him change his mind. She was determined and she was their leader – technically – so he couldn't argue with her. He cast a look at Astra over the brunette's head, silently he relayed a message to her to look after the others while he explored with Christina. It unnerved him how easily he deferred to her automatically when she was in no way his companion – officially _or_ unofficially – but there was something that happened to change the course of their unexpected relationship when she lend him her shoulder on the TARDIS and allowed him to unload his burden. He seldom did that; and he rarely showed his vulnerability to a complete stranger, but there was something oddly familiar about his mysterious Astra that drew him to her and made him feel comfortable enough to shed those tears he has kept bottled up inside ever since he dropped off Donna back in Chiswick devoid of any memory of him. It was for her own sake that he wiped her memories of him and their time together. It broke both his hearts to do it; she was the best mate he has ever had and she doesn't even remember knowing him.

SO, WHO IS SHE TO YOU, DOCTOR?" Christina asked as they hiked up and down sand dunes as they checked the perimeter.

"Who?" the Doctor feigned ignorance at her question. Of course he knew who she meant, but he wanted her to be specific; he didn't want to cause any misunderstanding between them.

"Astra, who else?" she rolled her eyes skyward and fixed her knapsack over her shoulder. "Is she your girlfriend? Your wife? Your betrothed?" she questioned.

The Doctor cocked an eyebrow. "You missed sister, mother, cousin, aunt and grandmother," he pointed out.

"She can't be any one of those. That's a very sick relationship if you and her were related," she made a face at him. "Besides, I saw you two on the floor of the bus. If she was family you wouldn't have held her so tenderly against you and shielded her like that. It was quite romantic, actually. Very rare to have a man willingly put his life on the line to protect his woman."

"Hmm, then you must've been around the wrong sort of blokes who wouldn't put their lives on the line for you," he answered then stopped to survey the area.

"You got that right," Christina didn't argue with him on that observation. "It was sweet of you to be all protective of her. So again I ask _who_ is she to you, Doctor?"

"Why are you so interested in her?" the Doctor asked still evading the question.

"Curiosity," she answered. "You two hopped on the bus at the same time, took separate seats as if you two weren't together and yet when it looked like we were about to keel over and die during the trip to God knows where we are right now, you two got cozy on the bus floor like you've known each other forever." She paused for a few seconds, looked about her then snapped her fingers. "I knew it! She's your _mistress_," she grinned up at the stunned Doctor.

"My _what_?"

"Mistress," she repeated. "It makes perfectly good sense. You're not free or _she_ is not free, but you are lovers hence why the separate seats on the bus."

The Doctor's face was indescribable as he tried to give her the proper reaction her deduction of his relationship with Astra. A _mistress?_ That certainly was a first.

ASTRA COULDN'T HELP FROM NOT looking out the bus window to the direction the Doctor and Christina disappeared to hours ago. So far they made progress on the bus; Nathan and Barclay were brilliant in unclogging the engine while between her, Angela and Lou (Carmen was too scared to leave the bus) they got they removed the backs and seats off and lined it up behind the bus. Everything was ready to go; all that was missing was the Doctor and Christina as well as a way to return back to Earth.

"They're coming," Carmen said ominously. "They are the storm," she added.

"That's not exactly reassuring, Carmen," Astra said moving to sit closer to the woman.

Carmen looked at her, locking her dark brown eyes with Astra's sky blue ones. A sad smile tugged on the older woman's face as she looked at Astra.

"I'm sorry, my dear, but you will break his heart again."

"What?" Astra felt something cold shot up her spine. "Carmen—"

"He will see you again, but you will not see _him_," Carmen continued with her cryptic message. "But he will remember you. _Both_ of him will remember you," she added.

Astra doesn't know how or what to make of what the older woman was saying. It was a prophecy, of that she was certain since it sounded like one, plus Carmen has the gift of foresight that was currently being intensified by their alien surrounding. Carmen was telling her of a future incident that she has no control over.

"How-how am I going to break his heart, Carmen?" Astra asked even though a part of her didn't want to know.

Carmen covered her hand with hers and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "He will understand why you did it, but it will still break his heart."

"I don't want to add to anymore of his heartaches," she confessed.

Carmen gave her a sad smile. "It can't be helped, my dear. A blinding white light will engulf you and take you to safety, but not before he sees the light go out of your eyes."

"How?" Astra demanded.

"They're here!" exclaimed Nathan and ran out the bus followed by Barclay and Angela.

The slight commotion broke the tension that tinged the air while Carmen warned Astra about the future. She wanted to press the older woman to tell her exactly how she was responsible for breaking the Doctor's heart, but the pained look on the older woman's face prevented her from pressing the matter. Maybe it was for the best that she didn't know how she was going to leave the Doctor's side.

Astra joined the others who eagerly awaited the Doctor and Christina's return. She saw them running down the sand dune like they were being chased by the hounds of hell.

"_Get inside!_" yelled the Doctor and waved everyone back into the bus.

Astra stepped aside when everyone scampered back inside, but she remained standing by the doorway and waited.

"What's that?" she asked when the Doctor and Christina stopped right outside the bus door.

"Our way out of here," answered the Doctor and dropped the large yellow gem on to the sand.

Christina protested against it, but the Doctor said it wasn't the gem that Christina risked her life for; it was the clamps. He pulled it apart and threw a couple of the clamps at Astra.

"Put those on the tire rims," he instructed and ran around the other side to put the other two on the other tires.

Astra did what she was told. She had no idea what device it was the Doctor found and Christina risked her life for, but she trust that whatever this device was it will take them back to Earth and away from this barren planet.

"What now?" she asked when the Doctor and Christina rounded the bus.

"Now we see if this baby will work," he said gleefully and ushered both herself and Christina back on the bus before following them.

Christina remained by the Doctor while I stood back.

"Everybody sit down and grab on to something," the Doctor told the others.

Christina and Astra ignored him. They remained standing nearby and watched him latch something on to the wheel.

"You don't happen to have a hammer in that backpack of yours, do you?" the Doctor asked hopefully.

Christina gave him a bright smile and produced a hammer from her bag.

"Brilliant," the Doctor giddily accepted the hammer and used it to clamp the metal on to the wheel. He tried to start the bus, but nothing happened.

"Aaaargh! It's not compatible," he grumbled.

"What do you need?" Christina asked.

"Something non-corrosive, something…" his voice trailed off and his eyes slowly moved to lock with Christina's, "…_gold._"

"Oh no," Christina was shaking her head violently. "No way, Doctor," she protested.

"Christina," he gave her a stern look, his tone sounded like that of a very strict professor.

"My watch is gold," offered Barclay. He got up from his seat and walked up to the front of the bus holding out his gold watch.

The Doctor looked at the watch then back at the young man. "They saw you coming, mate," he said.

"Oh," Barclay's face was crestfallen when he understood what the Doctor meant and went back to his seat.

"Does Christina have real gold in her possession?" Astra inquired when the Doctor and Christina continued to glare at each other.

Christina looked torn. She wanted to help the others and get out of this place, but at the same time she didn't want to part with whatever it was in her possession that was pure gold.

"Promise me you'll be very careful," she said.

"I promise," the Doctor answered solemnly.

Christina pulled out a gold chalice from her knapsack and handed it to the Doctor's waiting hands. He carefully held it then tipped it upside down and began pounding on it hard.

"I hate you," Christina hissed in annoyance.

Astra took a step closer and watched the Doctor work on getting the device he acquired from God knows where to work. Once he was done pounding the chalice he tried starting the bus and this time it worked.

"Hold on!" he said out loud as the bus surged upward instead of forward.

Astra grabbed on to the handle bar by the entrance and looked in shock at the Doctor. "We're flying," she whispered.

"Yep, that we are, Astra. We're flying this bus back through the wormhole," he said and steered the bus around.

"Will it survive the return trip?" inquired a worried Christina.

The Doctor first looked at her then to Astra then back at Christina. "We shall see if she can," he said.

"Doctor, they're right behind us!" warmed Carmen from the back of the bus.

"_Hang on!_" the Doctor called out and stepped on the accelerator, sending the bus to lurch forward and through the wormhole.

It was a tense few minutes as the Doctor maneuvered the large red double-decker bus through the wormhole with the unknown creatures hot on their tail. Astra and Christina braced themselves for the impact of their re-entry through the wormhole while everyone remained in their seats. In a matter of seconds they were through the wormhole, still fully intact, and back in present day London.

"_We made it!_" cheered the other passengers.

"We're back!" exclaimed a surprised Astra as she gazed out the windshield.

The Doctor was grinning from ear to ear, relief etched on his face as he steered the bus out of the tunnel where they disappeared from hours ago. Christina was grinning from ear to ear too and was now standing closer to the Doctor than usual.

"Did I say I hated you? I was lying," she said and didn't wait for a reply before pulling the surprised Doctor forward and planting her lips on his.

Everyone in the back hooted and cheered as they watched the two kiss. Astra, on the other hand, stared wide-eyed and speechless. A series of emotions ran rampant inside her as she watched Christina kiss _her_ Doctor. She couldn't explain this sudden possessiveness she felt towards the man she shouldn't even feel this way about, but she doesn't and she didn't like it.

She quickly averted her gaze and concentrated on the scenery down below. She looked back to check on the wormhole and saw a couple of stingray-like metallic predators go through the wormhole in pursuit of them.

"I hate to break this sweet moment between you two, but we aren't out of danger yet," Astra said to the kissing couple.

Christina reluctantly let go of the Doctor and took a step back. The Doctor himself still wore the same shocked look on his face from the unexpected kiss and looked guiltily at the annoyed Astra.

"Sorry, what?"

Astra cocked an eyebrow in annoyance. "Three stingrays just followed us through the wormhole," she told him.

"_Oh!_" He snapped out of his momentary trance then threw his borrowed cell phone at Astra. "Press redial and place that to my ear," he told her.

Astra caught the black phone and pressed redial. She waited until she heard it ring on the other line then moved closer to press the phone against the Doctor's ear. Christina took a step back to give Astra some room.

The Doctor spoke to someone named Malcolm on the other end ordering him to close the wormhole now. They started talking technical stuff and Astra tuned their conversation out. She also tuned the woman looming nearby out as well and allowed her mind to go blank.

"For the record he didn't kiss me back," Christina whispered into Astra's ear then she walked away and found herself a seat.

Astra showed no reaction to what Christina said. She doesn't care a whit about the kiss she witnessed between the brunette and the Doctor. He was an attractive man. She was an attractive woman. They were gone for hours and God knows what kind of bonding moment happened to the two of them while they were gone in search of a way to get them off that alien planet.

"Doctor, one's headed our way!" Barclay called out the warning as he watched a metal stingray moving at full speed towards the bus.

"Oh no, you don't," said the Doctor and steered the bus the side, hitting the oncoming prey with its side rear.

The sudden maneuver lurched an unbalanced Astra towards the Doctor, but he anticipated her move and shot out his arm to wrap around her as she fell towards him.

"Gotcha," he whispered and held her close to him.

"T-thanks," she stammered and tried to straighten herself up once again, but the Doctor didn't release her right away.

The Doctor looked down at her, a pleased grin hovering on his lips that were begging to be kissed. Astra resisted the urge to do what Christina did just a few minutes ago, but a part of her itched to taste those lips. Her initial annoyance with him soon evaporated as she continued to hold his gaze and bask in the warmth of his smile.

_"…you will break his heart again…"_ Carmen's ominous warning echoed in her head as she continued to hold the Doctor's gaze. She squeezed her eyes shut briefly to block out those words; she didn't want to think about what would happen in the future between them. She wanted to bask in the glow of the here and now.

"Everything okay?" he asked, a worry frown creasing his handsome face.

Astra opened her eyes and gave him a reassuring smile. "You will need to let go of me if you want to land this thing. I think the stingrays have been shut down by those people down below already," she told him.

"Oh, right, right," he eased his arm off her and straightened up in his seat.

Astra pulled herself up right and held on to the handlebar behind him. She watched the Doctor land the bus swiftly on the road just outside the tunnel. She stepped aside when he pulled his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and opened the bus door.

"Alright, everybody out!" he announced gleefully and waited until everyone's filed out of the bus. He grabbed Astra's hand and laced his fingers with hers as they waited until the last person got off the bus.

He escorted the blonde woman off the bus, flashed his psychic paper at the UNIT soldier who was about to tell them to join the other passengers, and walked past him to the waiting Captain Magambo. They were briefly detained from going to the TARDIS, which was brought on over by the Captain after finding it in the garden of Buckingham Palace, to mingle with the Captain and Malcolm – the genius behind figuring out the cause of the wormhole and closing it as well. Once the small chitchat was done and they were free to enter the TARDIS, another delay was presented to them, this time it was in the form of Lady Christina de Souza.

"Wait up!" the brunette called as she ran towards the Doctor and Christina. She stopped when she reached them and looked admiringly at the blue police box. "It's a little blue box, just like what you said. Alright then, off we go! C'mon Doctor, show me the stars."

Astra, whom until then still had her hand laced with the Doctor's, took a step back and disentangled her fingers from his, but the Doctor held on to her hand firmly, preventing her from leaving his side.

"No, Christina," he told the excited brunette.

"What?" Christina looked taken aback.

"I said no," he repeated.

"But I saved your life. And you saved mine," she pointed out.

"So?"

Christina couldn't believe she was being turned down. "It's the adventure, Doctor. After the events of tonight…I want more of those," she confessed.

"I'm sorry, Christina, but I can't take you with me."

"Why not?" Her gaze held his for a while, then she lowered her eyes and noticed the Doctor's and Astra's linked hands. "I see," she said under her breath. She looked back up and met the Doctor's gaze, "She's more, isn't she?"

The Doctor took a deep breath and slowly nodded. Christina's disbelief at being rejected slowly evaporated and instead she gave him an understanding smile.

"She's a lucky one."

"So am I," he grinned.

Astra was confused by the conversation. She was following it just fine until Christina made that comment. What was she talking about? But before she could question either one of them, Christina was being arrested on suspicion of theft and was escorted to a waiting police car.

The Doctor and Astra remained quiet as Christina was led away. He didn't let go of her hand until the arresting officer walked away.

"Doctor," Carmen called. "You take care now," she warned.

"You too," he smiled at her and Lou, her husband.

"But you be careful, because your song is ending, sir."

Astra felt him stiffen beside her. His grip on her hand tightened after hearing Carmen's warning.

"What do you mean?" His face was dead serious as he held the older woman's gaze.

"It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then Doctor…oh, but then…he will knock four times."

Astra felt a slight chill ran up and down her spine after hearing Carmen's forewarning. She saw sadness in the woman's eyes as she looked at the Doctor, then their gazes locked and even more sadness was seen in her eyes. Astra remembered the warning she gave her on the bus before they crossed the wormhole.

She looked up and watched the Doctor's reaction to this dark news. Astra knew it wasn't what he wanted to hear, and she didn't need a genius to tell her what Carmen meant. His song is ending…he will see her, but she won't see _him…_

Regeneration.

On their next meeting he will be a different man with the memories of this man with her. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze and moved in closer to him. She wrapped her other arm around his arm, silently offering him some comfort.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Oh wow, I can't believe this chapter's longer than the previous ones. Anyway, once again I used some of the lines from _Planet of the Dead_ for certain scenes in this chapter so don't be calling out PLAGARISM! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	7. VI Cry for Help from a Familiar Face

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** This version here is the _second_ version from what I originally started with. I scrapped that one 'coz I started to not make any sense to me. Now for this chapter I am bringing back a character that I didn't think I'd include, but I was fascinated by their story and wanted to give them a bit more of a background considering she alluded that she has seen the Doctor before during his 10th form.

VI. Cry for Help from a Familiar Face

EROS, THE PLANET WHERE ANYONE AND EVERYONE can do anything and everything they wanted to do and nobody else outside the inhabitants of Eros would know about it. It was the universe's version of Las Vegas in a way.

"_What_ are we doing here?" Astra questioned for the umpteenth time since the Doctor landed the TARDIS on a field outside the planet's city centre.

"Investigating," was the Doctor's clipped answer.

They were strolling up and down the busy sidewalk populated with various beings that were all looking for a means of escape from their everyday mundane life. Eros provides all sorts of entertainment for each individual seeking refuge on this planet. Whether it was for a short period of time or long term Erosians caters to these visitors.

"What are we investigating?"

"Somebody sent me this," he fished out a leather wallet from the inside pocket of his coat and showed Astra the psychic message her received.

Astra took the psychic paper and read the message out loud. "_'Hello, Sweetie! Eros' arrow shot one too many unsuspecting travelers. Let's meet on his playground. XOXO,'_" she paused and frowned at him. "_Sweetie?_" she echoed. "Is this a rendezvous message from a former flame?"

The Doctor gave her an irate look and grabbed the psychic paper and its holder from her. He tucked it back in his coat pocket and resumed walking.

"Never mind who sent it," he said irately.

Astra fell into step beside him and tried to keep up with his long strides. Good thing she had long limbs; she was able to catch up quickly with him and keep up with his strides.

"How can you be sure that that message was a cry for help?" she asked.

"Because I know who sent it," he answered taking a sharp turn at the end of the street.

Astra wasn't satisfied with his answer. He knew what that cryptic message was about and he wasn't sharing it with her.

"I swear, Doctor, if this is another one of your crazy suicidal missions you are returning back to the TARDIS alone," she threatened. Ever since leaving London after saving the passengers of the number 200 bus they'd been on one calamity-induced adventure after the other. Astra suspected his choice of destinations for them had something to do with what Carmen told the Doctor before they all parted ways, but whenever she confronted the Doctor about it he just shrugs it off and talk about something else.

Her threat struck a chord in the Doctor and he abruptly stopped. Astra didn't expect the sudden stopping ran smack in to his back. She would've fallen flat on her behind but someone caught her before she did.

"_Gotcha!_" a somewhat husky feminine voice announced after she stopped Astra's fall.

"_Ohmph!_" Astra exclaimed and quickly jumped up and away from her rescuer. She twisted around and came face to face with a smiling blond woman with a mop of really curly hair. "Thank you," she said.

"No problem," the woman smiled at her before her gaze strayed to the Doctor. "Hello, Sweetie," she greeted sweetly and walked up to the Doctor who stood apart from them with his hands in his pockets. His face remained neutral, but he was watching the stranger as if he couldn't believe she was here.

Astra watched the Doctor and the woman with loads of curls in her hair interact. While the yet-to-be-named woman smiled fondly at the Doctor, Astra noticed that he was giving her a rather skeptical look. He was smiling and answering her questions, but there was an undertone resonating from the man as he stood away from this mysterious woman.

SO, NEW COMPANION?" Professor River Song inquired as she fell into step beside the Doctor.

The Doctor frowned and looked over his shoulder where Astra remained after River joined them. She kept a good foot or two away from them but he couldn't help but feel Astra's blue eyes boring a hole through the back of his head. He looked back at River before answering.

"For now."

River slowly cocked an eyebrow.

"What?" he demanded when she continued to stare at him.

"What do you mean 'for now'?" she questioned.

"Exactly how it sounds," he answered.

River still didn't believe him and that frustrated the Doctor. She was alluding to something to his travelling arrangements with Astra than what it was.

"If you say so, Doctor," she conceded but the tone of her voice told him otherwise.

"Honestly River, what do you know about Astra, hm?" he demanded.

River's usual mischievous grin appeared and she gave him a sideways glance, "Spoilers," was all she said and that frustrated the Doctor even more.

"River…" he growled.

"If you're worried that she's untrustworthy then rest assured that she isn't. Astra Sto is the most loyal of your companions and will remain so until…" River's eyes widened when she realized she told him too much or was about to tell him too much.

"Until?" the Doctor prodded. He grabbed River's upper arm and stopped her from walking. He turned her to face him and met her gaze, "Until what, River?" he demanded.

River took a deep breath. She was conflicted on what to say. She looked at Astra who now stopped walking as well and was watching them with rapt curiosity, but she kept her mouth shut and let them talk.

"Forever, Doctor, until _forever_," River answered and shrugged her arm from his grip. She rubbed the spot he gripped and walked away, leaving the Doctor standing there. When she next looked over her shoulder she saw Astra standing where she stood. She was probably asking the Doctor what just happened.

River looked away and continued walking, but she didn't pick up her pace. She waited a few seconds before looking over her shoulder again and saw the duo following him. Astra's arm was linked with the Doctor's as they walked. She was leaning against him too and saying something to make the Doctor smile, which was working since the corner of his mouth was starting to pull up to smile.

Sadness clouded River's eyes as she continued to watch the duo. Being a time traveler like the Doctor was has its burdens. Like most of the Doctor's previous companions, Astra Sto was one of the rare few who made a lasting impression on him – and then some. She was an enigma the Doctor didn't quite figure out even after…River closed her eyes tightly to block out the rest of the memory that accompanied that thought. It won't be long now before the Doctor's world falls apart once more…


	8. VII Eros' Secret

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the update delay. As most of you know I am back in school as a FULL TIME STUDENT, so majority of my time is spent on studying and doing schoolwork (yay, what fun). Anyway, I would like to thank each & every one of you who is reading, liking & even commenting on this story. I really appreciate it. And constructive criticism is appreciated as well so feel free to leave some of those too.

* * *

VII. Eros' Secret

RIVER FILLED THE DOCTOR IN on what has been happening at Eros and the reason for her sending him her psychic message to meet her here. Normally River wouldn't think anything beyond what was the norm here on Eros, but the circumstances to which her attention was irked was very curious and she figured it was something the Doctor might find interesting too.

"What's so curious?" Astra asked. They were seated at an outdoor sidewalk pub enjoying some cold alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages to stave off the summer-like temperature on Eros' capital city.

"The tourists," River answered. She ordered one of the alcoholic drinks along with Astra.

"What about them?" Astra frowned.

River took her time from answering by taking a sip of her drink. She was seated across from Astra with the Doctor seated between them nursing his glass of water.

"Couples arrive on Eros blissfully ecstatic, but only one leaves and the bliss was gone," River explained.

That irked the Doctor's curiosity as River knew it would. He uncrossed his legs and sat forward. He was now interested in joining the conversation that was predominantly between Astra and River since they sat down with their drinks.

"What happens to the other half?" he asked.

"One half leaves brokenhearted and the other half…" River's voice trailed off, her usually glimmering blue eyes downcast and troubled.

"And what of the other half?" Astra prodded.

The Doctor reached over and covered River's hand wrapped on the glass she was drinking from. He gave it a soft squeeze, his eyes on her face watching her. River Song was still an enigma to him, but after the events at the Library, a part of him knew he could trust her – with his life.

Astra noticed the gesture. It was an innocent and friendly enough gesture to onlookers, but to her it looked over intimate, especially the way the Doctor was looking at River. And it was nagging something fierce inside her, eating Astra alive because she doesn't like it.

_Now why in allons-y's sake would I care if there's something between the Doctor and River?_ Astra questioned herself. _I only travel with the man. It's not like he and I are more than just traveling companions._

River noticed Astra's stare on her hand being held by the Doctor. She has seen that look one too many times and always felt sorry for those who gave her such looks. She knew that those women – and the occasional men – wouldn't catch the Doctor's fancy. He might like their company, but he wouldn't see them as more than an acquaintance; a passing comrade and possibly a friend he'd come and visit for the rest of his very long life. This time, however, River couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy creep up inside her.

Events that have yet to unfold concerning the Doctor and Astra Sto would soon come to pass.

River wanted to reassure Astra that everything will be all right, but one wrong word and she'd inadvertently changed the course of the Doctor's future. If River had been petty she'd jump at the chance – _this_ chance – to do something to alter what has yet to come; to act on impulse and changed a particular event. But she was well aware of the consequences of such action. In this timeline of the Doctor's life she meant little to him. She was just another fellow traveler bouncing about in time and space. He hasn't met her yet; she can tell from his eyes that he has just recently met her in his timeline. She better tread carefully then as to not upset the balance.

"So, you want the Doctor to help you decipher what happened to those supposed happy couples?" Astra asked after a few minutes of silence passed.

"Yes," River answered. She sat back in her seat and pulled her hand from the Doctor's. "I haven't quite connected the dots yet," she told them.

"You got an idea then? A-a gut-feel perhaps?" the Doctor asked but in his mind he was already running probable causes based on what River shared so far.

"Somewhat," shrugged River.

The Doctor raised a brow. "Care to share?"

"Have you got a place – somewhere _private_ – hat we can talk?" she asked huskily, a gleam in her eyes spoke volumes.

A wicked gleam shone in the Doctor's dark brown eyes as well as he caught on to what River meant. He flashed her an equally wicked grin and replied, "I've got just the place, darlin'," he replied, the last word rolling off his tongue.

* * *

WOULD SOMEBODY _PLEASE_ care to explain to me _what_ is going on?" Astra demanded back at the TARDIS where the Doctor took River and her back to.

"We were being watched – closely," River answered her query.

The Doctor was moving around the console, watching his flat screen as he searched for whatever it was he was searching for since they entered the TARDIS.

"We don't want to alert these Erosians that we are on to whatever nasty plan they have for those unfortunate lovers," murmured the Doctor without breaking eye contact with his computer screen.

"Why not?" Astra leaned against one of the railings and watched as River and the Doctor move about the TARDIS in sync with each other. She still wasn't sure _who_ River Song was to the Doctor, but her feminine wiles were telling her she meant a helluva lot more to the Doctor than what meets the eyes.

"If you are a sinister plotter, what would you do if you happen to overhear a couple of time travelers figuring out a way to stop whatever it is you're doing?" it was River who asked her that question. She was now standing beside the Doctor looking over his shoulder.

Astra contemplated on that for a bit, then gave a slight shrug of her shoulder. She pushed herself away from the railing and walked to the Doctor's other side and took a peek over his shoulder. Whatever it was he was looking at on the screen sure was captivating him and River.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Astra demanded after seeing what River and the Doctor were looking at on the screen.

"Not Erosians," the Doctor deadpanned.

"That's for sure," River agreed. "I met a few Erosians they are all prettier than what those things are," she added.

Astra had to take River's word for it. Currently she was looking at creatures with large bony wings, elongated mouths and large sharp teeth wet with sticky mucus-like saliva. Their bodies were scaly, their arms are part of their wings and their legs were long and claw-like.

"What are we looking at here then?" she asked when neither River nor the Doctor bothered to tell her anything else about what they were looking at.

"Trouble," answered the Doctor ominously.


	9. VIII Trouble in Eros

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** ***WARNING!*** The rating for this chapter's moved UP just a notch due to a certain scene somewhere down this chapter. It's nothing outrageous (I hope), but just to be on the safe side I am issuing a warning now just so I won't shock anybody reading.

**Song Inspiration for Chapter:** We Could Be In Love by Lea Salonga & Brad Kane (the singing voices of 'Aladdin' & 'Princess Jasmin')

* * *

**VIII. ****Trouble in Eros**

ASTRA WAS SILENTLY CURSING her luck while maintaining the cover of a lonely jilted bride-to-be vacationing in Eros for the weekend. The Doctor and River were posing as a happy newly engaged couple. The three of them were traveling together in the hopes of helping their jilted companion get over her doldrums. At least that was the story they were going with in case anybody questions them.

"Are you sure this plan of yours will work?" Astra asked irately for the umpteenth time since they left the TARDIS.

After they discovered that the so-called Erosians were not really Erosians but a projection of what Erosians should look like, the Doctor quickly took the three of them out of Eros, allowed a couple of weeks to slip by then returned them back, only this time they have a plan. At least a _part_ of the plan; Astra was still a bit weary about this plan-on-the-go the Doctor cooked up, but it was better than nothing she supposed.

"Aww don't fret, sweetie," River smiled that sweet sickening smile that was starting to grate on Astra's nerves. There was something about this woman and the possessive way she clung on to the Doctor that doesn't sit well with Astra.

"I am not fretting," Astra denied and glared at the other woman.

River just shrugged off Astra's annoyed glare and looked back at the Doctor whose arm was wrapped with hers. The three of them were strolling down the busy Main Boulevard where most Eros tourist frolic. It was a good way to immerse themselves with the rest of Eros' populace, hoping that whoever was watching them a week ago forgot about them already and think they were new arrivals to the planet looking for some fun and excitement.

Astra donned on a pair of specialized aviator sunglasses that the Doctor converted as a scanning device. Each and every person, thing or being Astra happened to look at during their jaunt on Main Boulevard – and elsewhere on this planet – would be recorded back to the TARDIS and analyzed for later perusal. Also if the person or being Astra saw was hiding under an illusion, its real features would be revealed to her immediately.

"Seen anything unusual yet?" the Doctor asked. He was wearing a pair of expensive men's dark glasses converted as a scanning device; the same goes for River who was sporting a female version of the dark glasses the Doctor was wearing. He fitted all three of them with the scanning sunglasses so between the three of them they have a wider range of cover as opposed to letting just one person do the scouting.

"Nope," Astra answered. "You?"

"Nope," the Doctor answered with a popping sound at the end of the last syllable. He looked at the woman clinging to his side. "What about you?"

"Same," River sighed. "Do you think we ought to split up? I mean, after all _we_," she gestured at herself and the Doctor, "are supposed to be on our weekend getaway trip while Astra's looking for a way to _forget_ about her no-good ex-fiancé," she reminded them.

The Doctor seemed reluctant to let Astra out of his sight. Now that he knew the so-called Erosians weren't really Erosians but Stygos – the love-hating inhabitants of the Planet Styx who has been at war with Eros ever since both planets ended up inhabiting the same solar system, he really wasn't too keen on letting Astra out of his sight.

"Don't worry, Doctor, I can take care of myself," Astra made the decision for him and split from the duo at the next set of lights. Astra headed east while River and the Doctor continued heading north.

The Doctor was about to argue but he knew it would be futile. Astra already joined the crowded crossing the street and River pulled him off the curb to cross the street as well.

"She's a big girl, Doctor. Astra knows what she's doing and she can defend herself," River reassured him.

"You talk as if you know her," he accused.

"And what if I do?" was River's flippant reply.

"How come she acts as if she doesn't know you?"

_"That's because I don't,"_ was Astra's reply coming through the comm-link River fitted the three of them with.

"What she says, Doctor," River grinned.

The Doctor's forehead creased to a confused frown. "What?" he demanded.

_"If you two are going to gossip about me, can you do it off-link so I won't hear it?"_ Astra said a bit annoyed.

"Sorry, sweetie, but the good ol' Doctor here brought it up," River apologized.

"I did not," denied the Doctor.

River let out a long sigh and rolled her eyes skyward. She maneuvered him towards one of the many cafés lining up Main Boulevard and grabbed one of the outdoor circular patio chairs and table. Within seconds of them being seated a perky pixie-like server (and after a quick scan check identified the server as indeed Erosian) quickly approached their table with a leather-bound menu book for them to peruse.

"Whenever you're ready just flag me down," Daisy, that was the name on her tag was flashing, smiled at them before moving on to the next table.

River waited until Daisy left before leaning closer and dropped her voice so only the Doctor could hear. Their comm-links (earrings for both Astra and River; ring for the Doctor) were activated so they can communicate with each other even though they weren't exactly in the same room. It was River's suggestion that they communicate that way; stealthy comm-links are very hard to detect.

"We're at Café Amor and so far everyone here is who and what they're supposed to be," River said.

_"Great. Same here. No signs of those Stygos posing as Erosians in sight,"_ replied Astra.

"W-where are you?" it was the Doctor who asked. He was still doesn't like them splitting up for this assignment.

_"Why do you want to know?"_ Astra challenged.

River watched a nerve tick on the corner of the Doctor's forehead at Astra's smart-alecky reply. He was trying his best not to worry about her – and she knew he hated himself for doing so, and yet it was the inevitable. Also he was trying to tamper his growing annoyance down, but that nerve-tick was a tell-tale he was going to lose it, so River took over from there to avert any unwanted argument between the two.

"Just make sure to check in from time to time," River said instead and leaned away a bit. She picked up the menu book and urged the Doctor to do the same. "We need to blend in, sweetie," she reminded him as she decided what to order to drink and eat.

Against his will the Doctor did what River was doing and perused the menu list their server, Daisy, left them with. His mind, however, was still wondering where Astra was. He mentally added a note to himself to give her some sort of tracking device so he'd know exactly where she was.

* * *

ASTRA RETURNED TO THE TARDIS A good three hours later. The Doctor was monitoring the progress of their initial jaunt while River was nowhere in sight. Astra found it odd that the female time traveler wasn't anywhere near or around the Doctor; ever since they picked her up as passenger after the Doctor responded to her call, the vivacious curly haired blond was never out of sight.

"Found out where this group of Stygos is hiding?" she asked as she walked over to the console. She took a seat on the worn-out leather high chair behind the Doctor and crossed her arms.

"Not yet," answered the Doctor, his concentration still set on the monitor in front of him.

"Is it just one group or do you think it's the whole planet?"

"I think it's just one group. Based on what we've scanned during our tour of Main Boulevard today, majority of the Erosians we saw are indeed Erosians and not the glamoured Stygos," he replied.

"How hard is it to find just one group?" Astra inquired.

The Doctor stopped analyzing the information on the monitor and turned to face his chatty companion.

"Stygos are good at keeping a low profile," he informed her.

"Yeah? What about that image we saw of that Stygos posing as an Erosian attacking those poor unsuspecting women, hm?" she demanded.

"That was an anomaly," the Doctor answered, a bit annoyed at her questioning him.

Astra huffed and rolled her eyes. "More like sloppy," she mumbled.

"_Sloppy?_" the Doctor frowned. He was now facing her, his back to the monitor and his behind pressed against the edge of the console. He crossed his arms over his chest and his crossed right foot over his left. "What do you mean?" he demanded.

"If Stygos are really as good at keeping a low profile, then _why_ did the TARDIS catch it killing off both women right in front of that besotted bloke who obviously was under some sort of spell?" she questioned. "According to River, their MO is killing off the 'wife' and the 'mistress' leaving the man or vice-versa. If that's the case, then _why_ did the Stygos we saw killed _both_ women instead of sparing the other's life?"

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it and thought about what she just said a bit more. He hadn't really pondered on _that_ particular incident. She was right, of course. He hates it when Astra was right, but he couldn't really fault her for being right; that was what companions was for: to point out scenarios to him that he otherwise wouldn't have paid attention to.

"Good question," he murmured after a while. He pushed away from the console and nudged Astra so he could sit beside her. He propped his feet on top of the console and slouched down in his seat a bit while deep in thought.

Astra cocked an eyebrow at the man seated beside her. She too propped her feet on the console, slouched down and leaned her head on his shoulder. She was tired from all the walking and scouting she did while on her own and her body was screaming SLEEP. She was surprised when she felt the Doctor slant his shoulder towards her, making it easier for her to rest her head on it and he, in return, rested his head on hers. She was about to voice out her complaint but thought better of it and just slept. She was too damn tired to argue with him anymore.

That was how River found the Doctor and Astra an hour later. She just returned back to the TARDIS after doing a bit of scouting on her own too.

River quietly walked up the ramp to the console and stood a good three feet away from the sleeping couple. They looked comfortable slouched down on the seat, feet propped up on the console, heads touching and arms linked. A small smile spread on the blond time traveler's face as she watched the Doctor and Astra for another minute or so before leaving the two alone to rest. She busied herself in the kitchen preparing them something hearty to eat. Once the two woke up they'll need all the energy they can get after she tells them what she found out during her scouting.

* * *

ASTRA WOKE UP WITH A START. She felt a slight crick in the neck from how she fell asleep. She was still a bit groggy from sleep and taking her time waking up. She slowly orientated herself to her surrounding; she knew she didn't fall asleep on her own bed in the TARDIS according to her back. Her head was propped against something soft and hard at the same time. Her arm was linked on another arm; her fingers laced with the arm owner's hand.

Astra slowly opened her eyes and stared at the laced fingers. Her eyes recognized the sleeve of the trench coat and a small smile appeared on her face. She was holding hands and snuggling with the Doctor. She closed her eyes once again, not quite ready yet to come fully awake, but…

_She was holding hands and snuggling with the Doctor!_

Astra quickly straightened up, forgetting that somebody was using her head as pillow. Her head bumped against the Doctor's, causing him to yelp out in surprised pain.

"I'm sorry!" Astra apologized in panic. She dropped her feet from where it was resting on the console and twisted her body to tend to the Doctor. He was covering his mouth and nose and he looked very much in pain.

"Wa da hex wa dat fo?" the Doctor groaned while clutching his nose. He stopped seeing stars but the pain that shot up to his head still lingered.

"I'm sorry," Astra repeated. She grabbed the Doctor's hands and gently removed them clutching his nose. She peered closer as she inspected his nose closely. "I don't see any blood so I guess I didn't hit you that hard," she murmured, her eyes trained on her patient's nose and lips. "Your lips aren't bleeding either so you didn't cut it," she added.

The Doctor stilled when Astra's face was mere inches away from his. He knew she was just checking his face for any bruises or cuts caused by her head colliding with his nose, but the gentle touch of her hands as she examined his face and the feel of her soft, lush body pressing against his given their current position was enough to send warning bells to sound off inside his head.

Somehow he felt like he was transported back on the floor of the 200 bus when they entered the wormhole. Astra was thrown off balance and landed on him. On instinct he pulled her towards him and curled himself around her to protect her from any debris. It was instinct. He've always done it for his other companions; their safety always came first as far as he was concerned.

But right now these feelings…these emotions…Astra…her face so close, her breath against his skin, her lips millimeters away from his. Soft, lush and pink lips begging to be kissed; waiting to be tasted and devoured…and damn his two hearts for wanting to take and pillage those sweet tempting lips.

Astra stopped her fussing when she noticed the Doctor's deer-caught-in-headlight expression as she continued to fret over him. She only then realized how intimately close they were and how she was practically on top of him.

"S-sorry," she mumbled not really knowing what she was apologizing for. She scrambled to get off him, panic starting to build up from inside of her.

The Doctor reacted on instinct. He cupped her face between his hands before Astra could move away and without thinking about the consequences of his actions. Heck, he never thinks about the consequences – much. Especially not now when his hormones were the one in charge and his mind and the rest of his body was merely following through.

Astra's eyes widened when she felt the Doctor's hands on her face and his face getting closer and closer until the only thing left for her to do was close her eyes in anticipation of the inevitable. His lips touched hers lightly…softly…gently. It was as if he was uncertain at first, but then he made up his mind and deepened the kiss; nipping gently at her lip then slipped his tongue from between his to tease hers to part.

Astra pressed her hands against his chest intending to push him away, but his tongue gently coaxing her lips to part sent shivers up and down her spine. He mistook her involuntary gasp as acceptance and drove his tongue into her mouth, taking what would've been an innocent kiss to a whole new level that neither one of them didn't expect to take.

Astra's mind flew right out of the TARDIS right there and then. All thoughts of pushing the Doctor away and ending the kiss disappeared the moment his tongue coaxed hers to have a little sword fight with his. Her hands on his chest curled around the lapels of his coat, pulling him closer as she made herself sit comfortably beside him. The Doctor helped her with her predicament by straightening up from his slightly slouched position and pulled her up and over his thighs, straddling him as they continued to kiss.

Both Astra and the Doctor were lost in the kiss that neither one noticed River joining them on the console, an amused smirk on her face as she watched the couple make out. She didn't want to interrupt them, but matter at hand was more pressing than their raging hormones at the moment.

River's throat clearing was the buzz kill required to separate Astra and the Doctor.

They pulled apart like they were doused with fire. Both were breathing rather heavily and their eyes wide and staring wildly at each other. Both their gazes slowly looked down at their current state. Astra let out a small sound that could be a suppressed shriek when she realized she was intimately straddling the Doctor and she was feeling something other than his belt buckle poking her.

"A-Astra…?" the Doctor stammered, his voice wavered a little as he was uncertain how his companion would react.

Astra didn't answer right away. Instead she gingerly jumped off the Doctor and straightened herself before looking at him again. Her smile was a bit uncertain and her eyes mirrored her uncertainty, but she continued with her brave façade and met the Doctor's gaze. Not sure what to say she turned and looked at River.

"How long have you been back?" she asked, her face flushing a deep red as she continued to hold River's gaze. She felt embarrassed to be caught snogging the Doctor when she had no right to be doing so. And with River with them to boot! Neither one admitted their relationship to Astra yet, but she wasn't a fool nor was she blind. She could tell that there was something between the Doctor and River and she was an idiot for snogging the man who was obviously taken already!

"I came back an hour ago, but you and the Doctor were asleep so I left you two alone and cooked something," she explained. She was smiling as if catching them making out didn't bother her one whit. "I just finished making us dinner that's why I came back here to wake up two up, but looks like I didn't need to."

"It's not—"

"It wasn't—"

Astra and the Doctor spoke at the same time wanting to explain to River the situation, but they both stopped when they heard each other speak. River slowly cocked an eyebrow as she regarded the couple. A knowing smile cracked her lips and she rolled her eyes at them as if she didn't have a care at what she just witnessed.

"Whenever you two are ready I'll be in the dining room," she told them over her shoulder as she walked away from the console and back to where she came from.

Once alone the silence began to weigh heavily between the Doctor and Astra. They avoided looking at each other. Astra was the first to move intent on following River. She almost made it off the console when she heard the Doctor call her. She stopped and turned to face him.

"Yeah?" she inquired.

"About what just happened…I-I-I don't want you to think…I mean, that is, it wasn't deliberate. I-I don't want you to t-think that, you know?" He was having a hard time explaining himself. He was completely out of his element and at a loss for words.

Astra understood what he was trying to say though.

"It's forgotten," she said and forced a genuine smile.

The Doctor gave her a crestfallen look, and he looked paler now than before.

"What? I-I mean, _forgotten?_" he couldn't believe what he heard.

"Uh-hm," she nodded. "That's what you're trying to say, right?"

"Is it?" he frowned.

Astra frowned back. "Doctor, you don't want to complicate us, do you?" she asked.

"Oh Astra…you and I have been complicated since Phizix," he chortled, reminding her of the first time they met.

"Okay, then you don't want to _further_ complicate us, do you?" She squared her shoulders and rephrased her initial query.

The Doctor didn't answer right away. Instead he stood a good two feet away from her, his dark brown eyes locked and held her sky blue ones.

"No," he said after a while, "I don't want to _further_ complicate us," he agreed.

"Good," she nodded. "Now, let's go grab us some dinner because I'm starving," she announced and ran down the ramp towards the direction of the dining room where River said she'll be waiting.

The Doctor remained standing by the chair, hands deep in his pockets as he watched Astra head for the dining room. He still had no idea why he did what he did; he hadn't felt such force of attraction in a very long while. Not since Rose and not since…well, Astrid.

He took a deep breath and sagged his shoulders.

_Astrid._

He and the adventurous cruise server spent only a brief time together, but during those brief moments Astrid Peth made quite an impact on him. He was willing to take her on the TARDIS with him when he left, but Fate had other things in mind for her. When he couldn't save her, he released her to become a part of the stars.

He released another heavy sigh before following Astra. _I wonder how Astrid is now,_ he thought before joining River and Astra.

* * *

**A/N2:** I honestly thought Astra & the Doctor would be _off_ Planet Eros by this chapter, but as I continue to work on it, I find it harder and harder to get them _off_ the planet as I initially thought – especially now that River's joined the party. Anyway, thank you all so much for continuing to read this fanfic.


	10. IX Farewell in Eros

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter –

**Author's Note:** Here's the latest chapter, sorry for the delayed update. As usual constructive criticism is welcomed as well as your votes and recs if you think this story deserves it. Thanks!

* * *

**IX. ****Farewell in Eros**

AWKWARD SILENCE. THAT WAS WHAT stood between the Doctor and Astra over the next two days. The only time that they spoke to each other was during their recon meetings; and that only lasted a good ten minutes or less.

River thought it was cute at first, but after two days she was ready to wring both their necks.

"This is ridiculous, Doctor," River hissed when it was just the two of them in the TARDIS. Astra went out on a 'date' with a glamoured Erosian – their first real lead since returning back to Eros almost five days ago – to find out where the Stygos are hiding.

River and the Doctor were monitoring Astra's every movement inside the TARDIS. Since it was night Astra switched to wearing eyeglasses with ungraded lenses, however it still functions the same as her sunglasses. Also it doubled as a surveillance camera for the TARDIS so whatever was showing on the screen was actually happening in real-time wherever Astra was.

"What is ridiculous?" the Doctor asked his eyes not straying away from the monitor. Although he and Astra barely talked since the incident a few days ago that hasn't stopped the Doctor from keeping an eye on her. In fact ever since that incident something inside him kicked in to overprotective drive, more so than usual.

"You and Astra."

"What about us?" he frowned. "We're doing fine, aren't we?" He turned to his curly haired blond companion with a frown.

River crossed her arms over her chest, rested the side of her hip against the console and cocked an eyebrow at the Doctor.

"You two _never_ talked about the snog you shared a couple of days ago," she pointed out.

"Yeah we did," the Doctor answered without skipping a beat.

"Oh really?" River didn't believe him.

The Doctor took his eyes off the monitor long enough to meet River's gaze, "Yeah," he nodded then returned his gaze back on the monitor in front of him.

"And?"

"And what?"

River was starting to lose her patience with the insufferable Time Lord.

"Doctor…" she hissed.

"Whaaat?" the Doctor singsonged.

"You are skirting around the problem."

"I am not," he denied. "And why are you nagging me about this anyway? I already told you, Astra and I discussed what happened and it _won't_ happen again."

River was poised to say something back, but their argument was put on hold when Astra interrupted them via her comm-link.

_"Sorry to break your little tête-à-tête, but I think I've just been made,"_ Astra hissed to the link.

"What?" River and the Doctor said together and both looked at the monitor.

The scene changed from the busy boulevard where Astra met her 'date' for the evening to somewhere dark and less populated. The streetlights were pretty bad and instead of the tall and bright buildings of Eros' Main Boulevard, this part she was being taken to looked more like the slums.

"Hang tight. I'll get a lock on your coordinates and get you out," River promised before the Doctor could reassure Astra.

"Lock on her coordinates?" the Doctor echoed. "In case you've forgotten, the TARDIS makes quite a racket when it appears and disappears," he reminded the stubborn blonde time traveler.

"I know," River answered. She was fiddling with her time vortex manipulator strapped to her wrist trying to get a fix on Astra's exact location. "Now shush while I try and get a fixed lock on her location." She tuned out the Doctor after that. She used the comm-link to get a fix on Astra's location.

"You are _not_ taking me—_whoa!_" the Doctor yelped when River's hand clamped on his wrist and zapped the two of them out of the TARDIS and on to where Astra was taken by her supposed 'date' for the evening.

River let go of the Doctor once they materialized outside a five-storey high brownstone building. He didn't look happy about her choice of transportation for them, but she didn't want to waste any time getting them to Astra's location on foot.

Once they regained their bearings River and the Doctor scanned the area. They looked at the brownstone building and noted some windows on certain floors were smashed or partially hanging by its hinges. The first four floors were dark, but there was a light on the topmost floor and the windows on said floor weren't smashed.

"I say Astra's on the very top floor," River pointed upwards.

The Doctor followed River's finger and zeroed in on the location she was referring to. He reached for his trusty sonic screwdriver tucked away in his left inside coat pocket and pulled it out.

"We need a plan," he thought out loud.

_"Ya think?"_ Astra hissed.

The Doctor made a face at the lack of faith in his companion's tone.

"I'm formulating a plan now," he told both his companions.

River made a face at him. Clearly she was on Astra's side on not believing him that he was formulating a plan on how to save Astra and reprimand the Stygos posing as Erosians and causing countless happy couples misery.

"I am," he insisted and without bothering to tell them what he was thinking about he walked ahead of River and entered the building where Astra was being held captive. He missed seeing River roll her eyes at him and the face as well as strangulating gesture she made when he walked past.

"We're on our way," River informed Astra as she followed the Doctor.

_"But what's the plan?"_ Astra demanded. She wasn't hissing anymore.

"Making it up as I go along," answered the Doctor. "Now you be a good girl and make yourself comfortable while River and I figure out a way to save you."

River's eyes widen when she heard _she_ was supposed to be thinking of a way to rescue Astra from her captors. Astra wasn't randomly picked like the other couples. She was _specifically_ picked and asked on a date right away. If River knew the Stygos' M.O., they'd court their prey first until they were putty in their hands then end their blissful existence.

_"As if I have a choice,"_ Astra grumbled.

"That's a good girl," teased the Doctor.

_"Must you be so damn patronizing and condescending, Doctor?"_ she snapped.

"I am not," he denied. "I just want you to feel comfortable and not to worry."

_"If I have my stuff with me I wouldn't be worrying. Heck, I wouldn't even need you to rescue me while you figure out a way to do so,"_ Astra boasted.

"You confiscated her weapons?" River slapped his shoulder hard as a reprimand.

"_Ow!_" the Doctor jumped and rubbed the spot River slapped. "If she is to continue traveling with me I do not want a hostile companion."

_"My kit is _not_ a gun, Doctor. I thought you only oppose carrying _and_ using guns?"_ Astra interjected.

"I oppose _any_ and _all_ kinds of weaponry," he corrected.

_"Ah, so instead of opting for a laser screwdriver you stuck with your sonic,"_ Astra mocked. _"Really, Doctor, sometimes you _will_ have to use some sort of weapon to oust your opponent,"_ she pointed out.

"I agree with her," River seconded.

The Doctor scowled at River for taking Astra's side of the argument yet again.

"You seem to be getting a bit too chatty, Astra. How come you're no longer hissing?" the Doctor decided to change the subject and concentrate on rescuing Astra.

_"That's because I am left all by my lonesome self at the moment. My date ditched me as soon as we got here. By the way I was presented to the leader of their brethren at least that was what I was told after I was practically shoved in front of this hideously looking beast like that one we saw killing those people."_

"And you're still alive?" River couldn't help from sounding surprised.

_"Yeah. Couldn't believe it either. I thought I was a goner, but their leader took one good and long look at me then snapped his bony-clawy fingers. I was taken away and locked up in one of the rooms with a window, but its ceiling height so I can't use it to escape,"_ she explained.

"Do you have any idea where on the upper floor you're at?" asked the Doctor.

_"Sorry, I'm all turned around. Can't tell north from south at the moment."_

The Doctor and River exchanged looks. They will have to split up in order to find the room Astra was sent to.

"She'll most likely be guarded," the Doctor surmised.

"I'm armed," River assured him. She pulled out her gun from the holster hidden under her jacket. "I'll go this way and you head that way," she pointed left for her direction and pointed the other way indicating where she wanted the Doctor to go. "We are all connected by the link so we can keep tabs on each other that way," she reminded him.

_"I have a couple of guards standing outside the door,"_ Astra informed them.

"How'd you know that?" the Doctor asked.

_"I peeked through the keyhole,"_ she answered.

"Oh. Smart girl," the Doctor grinned.

_"I am not some hapless damsel in distress, Doctor. You know that I can hold my own when crisis arise,"_ she told him indignantly.

The Doctor didn't think she couldn't handle herself. He still remembered how she took down those Pizes back in Phizix. She didn't even think twice about what she was doing and just aimed and shot their pursuers.

"Alright. River and I are splitting up," he informed her then exchanged one quick look with his other companion. "Good luck," he told her then took off to the direction River told him to go.

* * *

ASTRA DIDN'T LIKE FEELING HELPLESS, but that was what she was at the moment. How the heck did River manage to get away carrying her gun with her even while on the TARDIS and yet she was told by the Doctor to remove all sorts of weaponry on her person?

"Found me yet?" she asked no one in particular. The Doctor and River had been quiet for at least five minutes now since they told her they were splitting up in search of her.

_"I am looking at your glamoured guards right now,"_ it was River who answered. _"What about you, Doctor? Found Astra's missing date and the rest of his pack?"_

_ "Not quite,"_ replied the Doctor. _"Can you take down the guards?"_ he asked.

_"Not without making a lot of noise,"_ River answered.

"You know how to engage in hand-to-hand combat, River?" Astra asked thinking up a plan on how she and River can overpower her two guards.

_"As long as your guards keep their glamoured forms I can engage in hand-to-hand,"_ she answered.

"Okay. Just give me a couple of minutes."

_"What are you going to do?" _questioned River.

"Just wait for me to tell you when to attack," Astra told the other woman. She positioned herself with the door in front of her. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the two guards she saw standing on the other side of the closed door. Her body glowed a glittery bright light for a few seconds as she focused on the guards as well as the locked door. She heard a faint _click_ a few seconds later indicating that she succeeded unlocking the door. A few more seconds and the bright glow she was emanating disappeared.

"Okay, you ready, River?" she asked the other woman.

_"I am, but I still am not sure what you're up to."_

"Don't worry, they're stuck in their glamoured forms now no matter how hard they try to unglamour themselves," she reassured the worried time traveler. "I managed to unlock the door so I'll cause some distraction so they won't see you attacking."

_"Okay,"_ River agreed.

Astra nodded and took a deep breath. She reached for the doorknob and slowly turned it to make sure that it was indeed unlocked. When it turned on her touch she didn't waste time opening the door.

Everything happened in a blur. Astra whipped the door open causing the two Stygos to turn and investigate. As soon as they turned they received a roundhouse kick from Astra. They barely had time to recover from the blow when River attacked them from behind.

River and Astra took a Stygos each, engaging both aliens in a hand-to-hand combat. The Stygos were trying to revert back to their original forms, but received a shock when their glamour wouldn't disappear.

"What did you do?" River asked when she and Astra ended up standing with their backs against each other.

"Nothing too serious," Astra shrugged. "I just fiddled with their glamour manipulator, leaving them stuck in their current forms," she explained.

"How?" River gave her companion a quick look, disbelief crossing her face as she looked at Astra's smiling face.

"Magic," was Astra's nonchalant reply before bracing herself for the Stygo's attack. Both Stygos were disarmed the moment they started battling against them, and both Astra and River made sure neither one reached their guns to alert the others buy firing at them.

* * *

THE DOCTOR HEARD THE SCUFFLE before he saw the pair of winged male bodies flew past him. He was thankful he was still an agile fellow even though he was already over 900-years-old and ducked out of the way just in time as the bodies flew past him. Once he was assured that no more unexpected flying objects – or aliens – would hinder his pursuit, he approached the direction the bodies flew from and poked his head. He found River and Astra standing outside the room he assumed was Astra's prison for a short time. Both women were panting hard, hands braced against their thighs and they were both bent forward as they catch their breaths. They were still on full alert since they resumed a fighting stance when he approached.

"Oh, it's just you," Astra quickly dropped her defenses when she recognized the Doctor. She didn't look the least bit scared by his unexpected appearance.

The Doctor felt a bit perturbed that Astra didn't find his presence threatening. He knew he shouldn't feel dejected, but it still grated him that she barely thinks him capable of inflicting any harm on her person.

River noticed the Doctor's annoyance, but she figured it would be best not to comment on it. She knew it bothered him that Astra was able to easily disregard him the way she did.

"What did you find out?" River asked to end yet another awkward silence that was about to befall them.

The Doctor turned his attention to River and addressed her question. He still hasn't shaken off Astra's dismissal, but he knew they were here to figure out the mystery that was the Stygos going on a killing spree on Eros.

"I didn't see Astra's date or his cronies anywhere," he answered. "I checked a couple of rooms on the other side, but the rooms were empty."

"They're still here," Astra said. She had her eyes closed, her head extended back and her arms are out. She looked like she was feeling something out of thin air with her pose.

"I beg to differ," said the Doctor.

Astra opened her eyes and turned to the Doctor. "They're cloaked," she deadpanned.

"_Cloaked?_" echoed the Doctor.

Astra cocked an eyebrow but didn't say anything. She walked past the Doctor towards the opposite direction.

River and the Doctor exchanged looks then followed the blonde woman. Astra sensed their presence behind her. She held up her hand to tell them to stop while she tried to focus her energy on finding out which room was cloaked by the Stygos.

"What are you doing?" whispered the Doctor.

"Shh," Astra pressed her index finger against her lips. "They're still here but unaware of your presence," she told him.

"How can you be sure?" River asked.

"I can sense it," she replied and pried her eyes open. She turned and faced her two companions. "I suggest we head back to the TARDIS and come up with a plan to apprehend these Stygos," she suggested.

"What for?" frowned the Doctor. "I told you, I have a plan going."

"Yeah, you did mention that, but right now your plan-on-the-fly wouldn't work. I met their leader, remember? Somehow he doesn't strike me as someone easily overpowered or outsmarted."

"I'm with Astra on this one," River voiced her opinion. "We need a solid plan if we are to take on these Stygos."

"But-but…" the Doctor sputtered, looking from one companion to the next then decided to concede. They outnumbered him and in as much as he hated to admit it, Astra was right. His penchant for making up a plan as he goes along wouldn't work in this case.

Astra was _specifically_ targeted this evening by the Stygos. Somehow that didn't bode well with him. All the couples the Stygos targeted before were picked at random and according to River a song-and-dance courtship would ensue until their prey were putty in each other's hands.

* * *

THIS IS RIDICULOUS," hissed the Doctor angrily. He and River were back in the TARDIS after River transported Astra back to the abandoned building she was taken to.

River left Astra back in the room she was locked in. Astra helped River put the two incapacitated guards back to their posts, their memories wiped clean of what just happened and Astra locked up in the room once again.

"It's the only plan we have," River hissed back at him. They were monitoring Astra via her glasses still. So far Astra's date hasn't come back for her yet, and that was what's bothering the Doctor. According to Astra the Stygos were still in the building, however they placed themselves in a parallel time to cloak their presence, which was why the Doctor didn't see them when he searched the place.

"I still don't like this," he muttered outloud.

_"What's to like, Doctor? I'm not exactly thrilled to be bait, but here I am as bait," _Astra snarled voicing out her opinion via the comm-link.

"Who _volunteered_ to be bait, hm?" snapped the Doctor.

"Stop it, both of you!" River intervened before things get worse. "I agree this isn't the best plan as far as plans are concerned, _but_ it's the only plan we got so let us deal with it and hope that the results in _our_ favour, hm?"

The Doctor glared at River but zipped his trap.

_"I think somebody's outside,"_ Astra hissed. She focused her gaze on the still closed door and waited. A few seconds later the door opened revealing her supposed date for this evening and his leader.

_"You're one of the rarest of races, Starlyte,"_ a deep, gravelly male voice was transmitted via the link to River and the Doctor.

"_Starlyte?_" the Doctor mouthed, his forehead creased to a frown as he continued to listen to the conversation happening across town.

River met his gaze and even she looked as surprised as he was. For someone who seemed to know his mysterious companion so well, River Song was completely at a loss for words by this revelation.

_"I am not a Starlyte,"_ denied Astra.

A chorus of disbelieving chuckles echoed around the room Astra was being kept at.

_"You think you can disguise your aura from us, Daughter of the Stars?"_ taunted the Stygos leather who didn't bother disguising himself as an Erosian.

_"I don't know what you're talking about,"_ Astra continued to deny what the Stygos was accusing her. Her voice remained neutral, which made it impossible for the Doctor to decipher if she was lying or telling the truth.

The Doctor worked on another computer, researching everything he could about the elusive Starlyte race. In all his years of travel through time and space he has heard of such race, but they were so rare everyone categorized the Starlytes as myth.

"What are you doing?" River asked while keeping an eye on the monitor the feed from Astra's eyeglasses was projecting to.

"Research," he answered.

"About?"

"The Starlytes."

River's forehead creased to a frown. "Doctor, you don't actually believe what the Stygos are accusing Astra of, are you?"

"I can't leave anything to chance, River," the Doctor replied.

Meanwhile Astra was still keeping up the pretence of not being a Starlyte as she continued to engage the Stygos in a battle of wits. Her stubbornness wasn't endearing her to the Stygos leader.

_"Do not waste my patience, Starlyte. Right now you are resonating with your people's energy signature. If you'd been smart you would've kept your presence here on Eros unknown,"_ taunted the leader. _"Instead you stuck your nose where it shouldn't be, thus drawing attention to yourself."_

_"You lot are meddling with happily committed couples' lives. Erosians are known to be pacifists and devoted to keeping couples in love in a relationship,"_ Astra answered back. She neither confirmed nor denied the Stygos' accusation about her. _"How dare you blemish the Erosians' reputation!"_

"That's it, Astra. Keep him occupied," cheered the Doctor as he continued to find out more about the Starlytes.

_"Eros and Styx have been at war for millennia. Styx remained under Eros' shadows,"_ the leader replied. _"Erosians are not as pure as you think, Starlyte."_

_ "Yeah, whatever. Why kill those tourists? They have nothing to do with Styx and Eros' war,"_ she pointed out.

_"True those tourists had nothing to do with the war, but they play an integral part in our plan to eradicate the universe's belief that Eros was the land of milk and honey."_

_ "By killing Eros' tourists?"_ Astra scoffed.

_"Death is only the beginning, Daughter of the Stars. It's a camouflage to what is really at stake,"_ answered the leader cryptically.

"I don't like the sound of that," River muttered.

"Neither do I," agreed the Doctor.

_"Camouflage to what?"_ Astra prodded.

The Stygos took his time from answering. He engaged in a staring battle with Astra. He was probably contemplating on what he should tell her next, but it shouldn't really matter since she'd be dead in the end unless the Doctor and River figured out a way to teleport her out of harm's way before her impending demise in the hands of a hate-filled Stygos.

_"There is one way we can stop this war between Eros and Styx,"_ began the Stygos leader. He began to pace back and forth in front of Astra, taking his time before continuing on with his explanation. _"These damn Erosians don't know fig about what we, their neighbor and subordinate, have been planning for years ever since they overthrew our leader and made us inferior to them."_

Something cold and tingly shot up and down Astra's spine. Somehow she doesn't like his ominous tone and the way his eyes changed to pure glee when he looked at her.

_"How?"_ Astra applauded herself for sounding as cool as ice, but deep inside she was shaking like a damn leaf in fear for her very existence.

She closed her eyes briefly and mentally sent an SOS to the Doctor. She knew the Doctor and River were keeping watch of what was happening in real time, but just in case she doesn't make it out of this alive she wanted to let the Doctor know.

The Stygos leader as well as the rest of his cronies began to laugh. It started out as a low rumbling sound coming from their gut that slowly burst out like a dormant volcano that echoed around the small room.

That ominous tingly feeling Astra felt intensified when the leader turned his full attention to her. She knew without needing to use a telepathic read on him that he was going to kill her. And unless the Doctor and River had a plan figured out, she will meet her demise right here and right now.

_"You, Daughter of the Stars, is the key we've been waiting for. Your power alone is enough to fuel the vortex we've been working on for nearly a century, but with not enough power to give it the necessary push we need we can't open it,"_ the leader explained and began advancing towards Astra.

"Doctor," River hissed, worry and urgency lacing her tone.

"I'm listening. I'm listening," the Doctor answered, his fingers flying on the keyboard.

"He's going to kill her, Doctor," River kept her eyes glued on the monitor.

"Astra, keep him talking. Stall him as long as you can," the Doctor ordered.

_"Easy for you to say,"_ Astra hissed then to the Stygos advancing towards her she said, _"I told you I am _not_ a Starlyte."_

_"Yes, so you keep on insisting, but in truth you _are_ a Starlyte and you _are_ the key to opening up our vortex and swallow up this planet and all its inhabitants."_

_ "There are tourists on this planet too,"_ Astra pointed out.

_"Ah, well, collateral damage, that's all,"_ was the leader's nonchalant response.

_"Can't you let bygones be bygones?"_

_ "Enough!"_ the Stygos leader slashed his arm in the air. _"We've waited for a source of pure energy for years, Starlyte, and now that you've come to us we will wait no longer,"_ he announced. The leader aimed his hands at Astra then a bolt of white light shot out from his palms aimed at her.

Astra braced herself for the inevitable. She sent another message to the Doctor, this time she didn't use his psychic paper to relay her message. She knew River was watching and would see the words flash on the screen.

"Doctor, look at the screen," River jumped when she saw the words that appeared.

"What is it?" the Doctor moved away from the other screen he was working on to look at what has got River so rattled.

"Look," River turned the monitor so he could see it. "Astra sent that message."

The Doctor took a closer look, putting on his specs for a clearer read. There written across the screen was a telepathic message Astra sent: LEAVE NOW, DOCTOR! LEAVE!

"She's telling us to go," River said, her voice breaking as she realized what that message meant.

"No," the Doctor hissed.

"Doctor—"

"Not without her," he snarled.

"But we can't save her," River pointed out. "It's moot at this point to save her. The Stygos cornered her and we know what they are planning to do."

"I can't leave her, River!" the Doctor yelled, his temper flaring while he tried not to throw something – anything – while anger boiled inside him.

_"You have to, Doctor,"_ it was Astra's voice whispered through their comm-link. _"I can see the vortex opening now,"_ she said.

River and the Doctor watched from the monitor that indeed the vortex the Stygos was talking about was being opened right in the very room they were in. Astra was being held in place by the leader and being floated towards the widening black hole.

"We have to leave," River announced.

"_No!_" the Doctor yelled.

"If we don't leave we get swallowed up in the vortex along with this planet," River pointed out. "Astra stalled for us long enough to save our hides, and by God I will not let her sacrifice be for naught." River began pushing and turning some knobs on the console without waiting for the Doctor's say so.

"I said no, River," the Doctor grabbed River's wrists, stopping her from flipping another switch or turning another knob. "We are _not_ leaving this planet without Astra," he insisted.

_"You have to. Please, Doctor, save yourself and River. I'll stall them a while longer so you can get the TARDIS off this planet,"_ Astra pleaded.

The Doctor let go of River's wrists and went back to look at the monitor connected to the eyeglasses Astra was wearing. The view has changed. She was now looking closer at the vortex.

"Astra—"

_"It's alright, Doctor. I wasn't even supposed to be accompanying you. I am your unwanted companion, remember?"_ she chuckled. _"Goodbye, Doctor,"_ she whispered then the scene on the monitor snowed a bit before turning black.

"_Noooo!_" the Doctor screamed.

"What happened?" River skidded to a halt beside him, her eyes widened when she saw the blank monitor. "What did you do?"

"She severed the connection." He looked and sounded defeated. Disbelief covered his face as he stared at the blank monitor.

River was torn between comforting the Doctor and flying the TARDIS.

"I'm sorry, Doctor," River whispered, placing her hands on his shoulders for comfort. She waited two heartbeats then left the Doctor's side and flew the TARDIS off Eros.


	11. X Gone

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** This here is just a filler scene, IMO. Sorry for that. I just want to get this scene out whether it's needed or not. I felt that I ended the previous chapter abruptly and this chapter somehow explains a bit about how the events of the previous chapter impacted the Doctor. Let me know what you think.

* * *

**X. ****Gone**

RIVER WATCHED HIM SULK IN PRIVATE. She was flying the TARDIS. He didn't even argue with her when she took over the helm and took them away from Eros after Astra severed her connection to the TARDIS and to them.

They didn't know what happened after River set the coordinates to leave Eros. She plotted a course for somewhere as far away from the planet as possible. She tried contacting Astra via their comm-link once again while the TARDIS was in flight, but all she received was static.

Setting the TARDIS on autopilot, River walked away from the console and followed the Doctor to the library where she saw him head off to soon after they left Eros.

"Need some company?" she asked when she found him sitting in the corner on the main floor.

"I'd rather be left alone," the Doctor replied.

"I could do that," River agreed, but instead of doing just what he wanted she did the opposite and joined him. "But I won't," she smiled after she sat down across from him.

The Doctor let out a long exasperated breath then hung his head to the side, glaring at his unwanted companion. Suddenly a memory from not too long ago flashed back in his mind. Astra's face appeared in his mind's eyes, smiling at him as she stood in the middle of this very library looking up at his perch on one of the upper levels. He told her to leave him alone then too, but like River, Astra was pretty stubborn herself and instead of doing what he asked her to do she did the opposite and joined him instead.

"River—"

River placed her index finger against his lips before he could say anything more.

"I know you want to be alone, and I have given you ample time to yourself. Now it's time for you to have some company, even for just a short while," she told him.

"You're leaving too?" he frowned, mumbling the words since her finger was still pressed against his lips.

"I have to," she answered and slowly removed her finger pressed against his lips. "Our adventure's almost over, Doctor. Once the TARDIS lands, I am going back to my own timeline."

"Can't you stay longer?"

"I'd love to, sweetie, but I can't."

The Doctor opened his mouth to say something, but he quickly shut it again and looked away. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes to stop the tears he has kept bottled up inside from falling. The last time he allowed himself to show his vulnerability was with Astra. Although he sorta knew River more than he did Astra, he felt more at ease with her than with River even though his gut tells him River Song meant more to him than Astra ever did.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened. It wasn't your fault," River told him, hoping to appease his guilt by reminding him that it was Astra's choice to be left behind. And they all knew there was nothing more they could do to save her. It was at the tip of her tongue to tell him that all wasn't lost – yet, but she knew the number one rule every time traveler abides by: NO SPOILERS.

The Doctor met River's eyes and tried to read her. He sensed that she knew more about Astra than she led him to believe. But like himself, River wouldn't divulge anything more than what she already shared with him. That doesn't mean he couldn't guess and piece things together.

"You knew this was going to happen," he said after a while. He couldn't explain why he felt that River knew that Astra was going to sacrifice herself, but somewhere in his subconscious it was screaming loudly at him that River Song knew exactly what was going to happen.

River schooled her face to reveal nothing and everything at the same time. She hated being cornered by the Doctor like this, but sometimes it was her own fault that she set herself to be cornered.

"Spoilers," was all she said.

"Dammit, River," he hissed.

"You know the rules, Doctor," was her cheeky reminder, a mischievous smile tugging on the corner of her lips. "Whatever Astra did, she didn't do it for nothing. Everything happens for a reason, remember that," she reminded him.

The Doctor wanted to argue with her logic, but he was far too emotionally exhausted to say anything or dispute her argument. And he found a part of himself agreeing with her. River knew a helluvalot more than what he knows now, and something tells him all will be revealed to him – eventually.

* * *

**A/N2:** I thought I had this chapter uploaded that's why I got busy working on the chapter after this. Imagine my surprise when I checked the chapters I have uploaded and found out _this_ "filler" chapter was missing. Anyway, here it is albeit short and…well, like what I said _this_ is a "filler" chapter, but worry not 'coz the next chapter's being worked on and _hopefully_ I can get it uploaded by this weekend.


	12. XI Surprise Reunion

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** First of all I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas/Happy Kwanzaa/Happy Hannukah/Happy Holiday (did that cover everything?). I'm back and enjoying working on this chapter. It took me a while to get it rolling, but once I found my muse again my creative juices just kept right on flowing. This chapter picks up where the previous chapter left off, but the timeline's not quite right as you'll soon find out…

* * *

**XI. ****Surprise Reunion**

ASTRA FELT LIKE HER GUT WAS BEING wrenched from her person. Her head felt like it was being squeezed tight, her eyes practically popping out of her sockets from the pressure. She almost fainted from the brunt of the force being shoved down on her person as she was propelled through the vortex. For a second there she thought she'd be throwing out what she had for lunch, but she was saved from doing so when she blacked out the rest of the journey through the vortex to destination nowhere. She had no idea how long the journey lasted. She was just thankful she didn't have to suffer through it feeling as wretched as she did when she was first thrown in to the damn vortex when she tried to close it along with the rest of the rebel Stygos.

When Astra came through she'd just fallen flat on her rump with a thud. She was far too busy gasping for air and checking every part of her to make sure that she came through the vortex in one piece to worry about the shooting pain from her sit bone that shot up her spine from when she landed on the dusty concrete floor.

"Bloody hell, it's cold in here," Astra hissed when the cold seeping from the concrete flooring she was sitting on finally made its presence felt. She rubbed her hands against her upper arms to stave off the chill then gave her surrounding a quick sweep.

She knew she wouldn't be where she was last at before she got thrown in to the vortex along with the rest of the Stygos she managed to take with her when she collapsed the portal, but she didn't expect to materialize somewhere either. She was under the impression she'd be stuck in that vortex along with everything else it sucked in when she made it implode.

Astra was busy figuring out where she was when she heard some scuffling of feet not too far from where she was. Instinctively she reached for her weapon, then cussed when she felt bereft of them. The Doctor asked her to disarm herself while traveling with him so she left her weapons back in the TARDIS. God knows where the mighty Doctor was now and his trusty TARDIS. And was she even in the same universe as the Doctor was or was she thrown in to a parallel universe where the Doctor never existed?

"God, I hope not," she mumbled to herself and visibly shivered at the mere thought of not having someone like the Doctor around.

She heard the scuffling again and this time she slowly pushed herself to a standing position. She didn't let on to whoever was watching her that she knew she was being watched. She was still a bit weary after using up all the power she could muster making the vortex implode, but she recovered enough to be able to send out a telepathic scan of the area. Her scan turned out at least four life forms at least a couple of years away from where she was standing. She couldn't tell where exactly they were, but she prepared herself for a possible attack.

* * *

THE DOCTOR REMAINED FROZEN where he was crouching behind some concrete ruins that littered this corner of what once was part of a rich and thriving planet. The TARDIS landed them smack dab in the middle of a _literally_ dead planet after giving him a hard time maneuvering her to a planet he promised to take his newfound companions to for a quick spell then off they go to another adventure.

"It can't be…" he whispered as he stared at the sole living occupant of the planet that drew the TARDIS here.

"What can't be?" a red haired woman whispered peering over the Doctor's shoulder.

"She's here," the Doctor said his voice coming out squeaky and he had a funny happy look on his face.

"W-who's here?" the other companion, a brownish-blond haired male who peered over the Doctor's other shoulder. His blue eyes zeroed in on the blonde woman standing in the middle of all this rubble. "Who is she?" he asked his eyes nearly bugging out of their sockets and his voice had a tinge of dreamy huskiness to it, which earned him a resounding whack on the upper arm from the redhead with them. "Ow…" he whined and rubbed the spot she hit.

"Stop drooling at her," scolded the redhead.

"I wasn't drooling," denied the blond.

"Stop arguing you two," scolded the Doctor then gave them both a scolding a look before returning his attention back to the woman standing on guard in the middle of the abandoned warehouse.

"Doctor, _who_ is she?" demanded the redhead after she finished slicing and dicing the other male in their group with her glare. Clearly she was jealous that he found another woman far more attractive than she does.

"Someone I didn't expect to see again," answered the Doctor then quickly stood up from their hiding place. "Hello, Astra!" he greeted with way too much glee it was sickeningly sweet.

* * *

ASTRA JUMPED IN SURPRISE WHEN SHE HEARD a male voice greet her, let alone _address_ her directly. She spun around and came face to face with a boyish-looking man wearing a tweed jacket and a bowtie. He was pretty easy on the eyes too and quite charming if a bit awkwardish and geeky to boot. Behind him appeared two companions; a tall skinny brownish-blond haired man and a leggy long-haired redhead. But her attention jumped back to the dorky looking man with the handsome boyish face standing between the two newcomers.

Something about him felt oddly familiar about the man that she couldn't seem to put her finger on. Something in her gut was screaming at her to let down her guard; he was a man she can trust.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "How did you know my name?"

The man in the middle was the one who answered on behalf of the three of them. In fact he seemed to be the most confident one of the trio and that dopey boyish smile of his made his blue eyes sparkle something wicked and Astra couldn't help but feel this tingling sensation run up and down her spine.

"Hello, Astra," he repeated again, her name rolling off his tongue and passing through his lips like honey.

Astra shivered when she heard him speak her name, and the look in his eyes spoke volumes as well.

"Who are you?" Astra demanded. She took an involuntary step back, wanting to keep as much distance between herself and the trio in case she needed to make a run for it.

Instead of answering her back the man with the boyish face took a step towards her and didn't stop until he was standing just an arm's length from her. He has invaded her personal space and yet he was still standing as opposed to slammed face flat on the ground with her foot on the base of the back of his neck keeping him grounded.

The Doctor could not contain his glee at seeing her again. He knew his eyes weren't deceiving him when he spotted her, but he wanted to be certain she wasn't some clone masquerading as Astra just to dupe him. He took a deep breath, inhaling her scent and his hearts began to beat twice as rapid as it normally did as his excitement heightened.

This was Astra. _His_ Astra.

Astra let out a surprised squeal when she found herself pulled in to the arms of the lanky man with mischievous blue eyes and boyish good looks. Her body stiffened in anticipation of rebuffing whatever it was he was doing, but when she realized he was only giving her a hug and the hug felt familiar somehow, her body began to relax and enjoy the feel of his body warmth enveloping her. Between the two of them he was more properly dressed for the elements than she was, and she'd been freezing her arse off since she landed on this blasted place.

The Doctor held her tight against him, squeezing him like she was some kind of long lost toy that he didn't think he'd see again. It has been a while – three years, eight months, six days, ten hours, fifteen minutes and twenty-five seconds give or take – since he last saw her. When she broke connection between herself and the TARDIS just before sending a quarter of Eros into the void he thought he'd lost her forever, but she was standing here on this barren part of Eros; a living breathing proof of the Astra he thought he lost.

Astra managed to wedge her hands between herself and the man hugging the air out of her. In as much as she appreciated the warmth emanating from his body, she needed oxygen to breathe as well so with all the strength she could muster she pushed the stranger away and sucked in a lung full of air.

"Okay buddy, I don't really know who you are but you're definitely—" the rest of Astra's words were lost in a muffled sound when the man covered her mouth with his.

Astra's hands balled into fists where she clutched the man's tweed jacket by the lapels. She meant to push him away, but the deeper he kissed her, the more she pulled him towards her and responded to the kiss. His lips and kiss felt oh-so-achingly familiar but she can't seem to put her finger to it. It was a very pleasant and enjoyable kiss; a kiss she has shared with only one man and never received any follow-ups since their first unexpected kiss.

Amy Pond and Rory Williams – the Doctor's newest companions – watched in astound silence as the Doctor lip-locked with the pretty blond. Amy sensed that the woman was someone from the Doctor's past, but never in her wildest guesses would she assume the attractive blond was a romantic interest of the Doctor's especially since Amy knew that the Doctor's got a discombobulated backwards relationship happening with River Song ever since that first time she crossed path with the fellow time traveler.

"Doctor, I checked the perimeter and…what in the name of all that's holy are you doing?!" Doctor River Song demanded in blatant outrage when she walked in on the Doctor making out with a complete stranger.

Amy and Rory moved from where they were momentarily frozen and walked up to where a charging River was. Rory grab hold of River's arms while Amy wrapped her arms around the other woman's face. What the couple saw on the curly haired woman's eyes spelled bloody murder and chances are she'll be murdering both the Doctor _and_ the mystery woman the Doctor was locking lips with.

Astra quickly disentangled herself from the man locking lips with her when she heard River's voice.

"_River!_" she exclaimed in delight and made a run for the other blond haired woman who was currently being held back by Amy and Rory. "Oh River, thank God you're alright!" Astra sounded very relieved as she threw her arms around a very livid River Song.

"Uhhh…I don't think it's wise to hug her right now," Rory commented still holding River back who was fighting him every bit of the way.

Astra quickly backed away as if she was scalded and gave the man a confused look. She looked back at River and noticed for the first time that she wasn't as happy to see her as she was.

"River?" Astra cocked her head to the side a bit trying to assess why the other woman was fuming mad at her.

"It's alright, Astra," the Doctor walked up behind Astra and placed a hand on her shoulder causing her to jump as she didn't quite expect him to follow her.

River broke free off Rory and Amy's hold then and as soon as she was free her hand shot up and gave the Doctor a resounding slap on the face. Astra jumped back in shock when she saw the man who seemed to be familiar with her nearly fell on the ground from the impact of River's slap.

"_River!_" Astra scolded, but River ignored her. Instead the other woman's attention was focused solely on the man she just slapped.

"How dare you have the audacity to dally with another woman when you and I—"

"It's not what you think, River," the man said cutting off the rest of River's rant. "_She_ is Astra," he told her expecting River to recognize her.

"Who?" River demanded.

"You don't remember me?" Astra questioned,

River turned her steely gaze from the Doctor to Astra, one eyebrow cocked as she replied, "Should I know you?"

Astra's initial glee at seeing a familiar friendly face soon dissipated when she met River's gaze and saw nothing but annoyance and jealousy looking back at her. This wasn't the River she met and hung out with on Eros. This was a different River; a River who didn't know her. But how can that be when River obviously knew _everything_ about her when they first met?

It was at the tip of her tongue to tell River she should know her, but the man River just slapped spoke up before she could say anything.

"Of course, it makes sense now," the Doctor looked from River then to Astra then back at River. He slapped his palm to his forehead a few times then turned to explain what was happening to the two women who knew each other yet doesn't really know each other that well. "You still haven't met Astra while you," he turned and pointed at Astra, "already met River. _Of course!_" he exclaimed followed by a childish giggle as he looked at both women and studied them.

"I-I'm confused," Amy raised her hand hoping to catch the Doctor's attention and help explain what was happening to her.

"I'm always confused," admitted Rory looking sheepishly at Astra then to his wife. "W-who is she, Doctor?" he asked referring to Astra.

Astra's forehead scrunched to a frown when she heard what the skinny man called the man she was just making out and the man River was ready to skin alive.

"_Doctor?_" she echoed, her blue eyes trained on the lanky man in tweed and bow tie with a handsome boyish face and a frumpy-ish hairstyle.

The Doctor slowly turned his attention to Astra, a sheepish smile hovering over his lips and his eyes alight with mirth.

"Hello," he nodded.

"Oh my God," Astra said under her breath and did something she swore she'd never do.

She fainted.

"Oh God, she fainted!" exclaimed Amy.

Rory, in full nurse-mode, quickly ran towards the falling Astra before she hit the ground. The Doctor, who was standing closest to Astra, caught the blond haired woman before her head or body hit the ground. He took the brunt of her weight and cushioned her fall, making sure her head was cradled in his hand and her face pressed against his chest like he was holding an infant. This position was very reminiscent of that incident they had on the bus when they were pulled through that dead planet a lifetime ago.

"I got her!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Good, keep her steady," Rory ordered then disentangled Astra from the Doctor. He quickly checked her vitals and felt for her pulse; it was faint and her hands were cold as ice. "Weak pulse, cold hands," he surmised out loud, then he met the Doctor's eyes, "We need to get her back to the TARDIS."

"On it," agreed the Doctor. He knelt down beside the still unconscious Astra, hooked his arms under her neck and knees then hoisted her up. "Come along, Ponds!" he called over his shoulder to his three companions as he raced back to the direction of the TARDIS.

* * *

**A/N 2:** This story's timeline is post-Series/Season 6 of Doctor Who and a completely AU timeline of Series/Season 7 just so we're all clear and not confused.


	13. XII Hello Again

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** HAPPY NEW YEAR Readers! Here's another chapter to cap-off 2012. Again thank you to everyone who is reading & liking this fanfic so far.

* * *

**XII. ****Hello Again**

MOANING. SHE WAS MOANING. That was a good sign, wasn't it? She was moaning that means she was regaining consciousness. She has been knocked out for close to two days now. Rory said she was rather weak and needed time to recuperate when they found her hence the fainting spell; she was partially frozen from being under the elements too for however long she's been exposed to it before they found her.

The Doctor remained by Astra's bed side at the infirmary since they brought her back to the TARDIS. He didn't know the TARDIS housed one of these until the need for one arose; he had Rory to thank for that he supposed since he was a nurse and Sexy was quite attracted to him; she knew what the nurse needed and accommodated his telepathic request. He set the TARDIS on autopilot, traveling through the vortex with no exact destination; just hovering and traveling until the Doctor was reassured that Astra was safe.

"There, there now," the Doctor whispered clasping his hand with Astra's as she continued to moan and slowly move about on the bed. IV tubes with liquid stuff was stuck on her arm, rehydrating as well as feeding her according to Rory after the Doctor demanded what the hell it was he was doing to Astra.

Astra continued to move about as she slowly regained consciousness. Her eyelids felt like they were crazy glued shut and it pained her to open them. When she finally managed to pry her lids open it took her a while to have a clear vision of her surroundings, but one thing she was certain of regardless of whether she can see or not: she wasn't alone.

She felt a hand holding hers, cradling it gently and a fingertip caressing the back of her hand. She can also hear a faint sound of someone whispering something to her. She felt a warm breath against the side of her face close to her ear too. Whoever was with her stood vigil by her side and was whispering words of encouragement to her. Astra felt something tingle and flutter inside her at the thought of whoever was doing this to her. Suddenly a face flashed in her minds eyes, a handsome boyish face of a man wearing a bowtie, tweed jacket and suspenders. He had a charming smile and a wicked glint in his eyes. He was also a very good kisser, kinda reminded her of when she last snogged the Doctor.

She slowly blinked her eyes open, focusing on the sole figure that was beginning to clear up as her vision returned to her. It took her a while figure out who the face belonged to, and then she remembered. She tried to open her mouth to speak, but her mouth dried up making her flinch as her lips cracked when she tried to open her mouth.

"Don't try to speak," cautioned the man when he realized what she was trying to do. "Be back in a jiffy," he told her giving hand a light reassuring tap then he was gone.

Astra had no idea where he went or what he was doing, but a few seconds later he was back in her peripheral carrying a glass of water. He set it on the table beside the bed then helped her up to a sitting position.

"C'mon, drink up, but slowly," he encouraged as he cradled Astra's head while holding the glass of water to her mouth.

Astra was thankful for his kindness and drank as much as she can of the water he offered. She pulled her head back when she has had her fill and smiled her thanks. She was helped back to her lying position, but instead of leaving her flat on her back, the man pressed a button on the side of the bed that pushed her partially up.

"There we go," he giggled and pulled the chair he was using earlier closer to the bed. He sat astride it and leaned his folded arms on the guard rail. "Hello," he greeted her with the brightest smile Astra has ever seen.

"H-hello," Astra greeted back and his smile was so infectious she found herself smiling back at him. "W-who are you?" she asked wanting to get that out of the way right away.

"You don't remember me?" He didn't sound offended that she had no idea who he was. In fact his tone had a hint of amusement lacing it and that mischievous glint she noticed in his eyes was back as he continued to look at her.

"S-should I?"

"Nah, I s'pose not," he grinned.

Astra was a bit confused at how easy going he was even though he knew she had no idea who he was. But that kiss…whoa boy, that kiss sure was meant for someone he was very glad to see—again!

"Ah, I see that our patient's awake now," the voice of the other man Astra encountered spoke from the doorway.

"Yes, yes. She just woke up. I already gave her a glass of water because she was parched and trying to speak. Also, I propped her up a bit 'coz I know she's had enough of the lying down flat on her back," explained the man with the bowtie who quickly jumped up and off his seat to deliver his progress report.

Astra noted the other man giving Bowtie Man a queer look. She doesn't know why but he looked funny. Actually, she found this whole scenario funny. Who was Bowtie Man anyway? How come he was fussing over her like she meant the world to him?

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Rory asked his wife's best friend.

"Of course I'm alright!" the Doctor exclaimed.

_Doctor?_ Astra frowned and looked at Bowtie Man once again. _No, it can't be him,_ she denied not wanting to believe that this man who stood vigil by her side was the same man she met and travelled with for a bit before her unexpected act of heroism on Eros cut their time together short.

"You've been acting strange ever since we found her," Rory cocked his head to his patient on the bed to indicate who he meant. "Amy's worried about your odd behavior and River's not at all happy about everything _especially_ her," he added and once again cocked his head to the direction of the woman on the bed.

"Oh, she'll get over it."

Rory didn't say anything but just raised an eyebrow and gave the Doctor a pointed look.

"Excuse me," Astra managed to raise her voice higher than what she was able to moments ago and caught the attention of the two men in the room with her. "Did-did you just call him 'Doctor'?" she asked the skinny blond haired man.

"Yeah, that's what he calls himself. Doctor who? I have no idea. Just calls himself the 'Doctor'," the man answered.

"Oh my God…" Astra whispered as things finally settled in. Her gaze moved away slowly from the blond man towards Bowtie Man. Last time she saw the Doctor he was wearing a suit and tie often accompanied by a long brown trench coat. But this new him seemed to not like his old fashion sense and opted for tweed, suspenders and a bowtie.

The Doctor waited patiently for Astra to process what she just learned. He remained standing by the bed, hands thrust deep in the pockets of his trousers and rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet until his eyes locked with hers.

"Hello again," he smiled.

"Oh my…it _is_ you!" Astra exclaimed. There was something in his eyes – although it changed from brown to blue now – that was very him. The Doctor always had a quiet yet mischievous glint in his eyes and it had always been there since she first saw _this_ version of the Doctor. And the kiss! She knew it felt familiar but didn't want to believe that a complete stranger could kiss her the same way another man kissed her.

The Doctor moved closer to the bed, hooking his foot to the chair and dragged it closer so he could sit and be at eye-level with Astra at least.

Astra reached out and touched the side of the Doctor's face, cupping his cheek in the palm of her hand while her thumb caressed his cheekbone. He never broke eye contact with her.

"How-how long has it been?" she asked.

"Too long, my dear," he answered covering her hand cupping his face with his own hand. "I thought I lost you forever," he confessed, his voice cracking just a tad bit and he turned his face towards her hand and gave her palm a chaste kiss.

"I thought I was a goner too," she admitted.

"How did you end up where we found you?"

"I don't know. I just appeared there."

"How long has it been for you?"

Astra uncupped his cheek and let her hand slide down until his hand clasped around her fingers. "It was just minutes since I broke connection," she answered.

"Ah, of course, the complex timey-wimey workings of the vortex," he shrugged. He cupped her hand in both of his and gave her knuckles another chaste kiss. "I think the TARDIS knew you'd be there that's why she took us where we found you."

"Perhaps," she agreed. "But you still didn't answer my question, Doctor."

"Oh? And what question was that?"

"How long?" Astra needed to know exactly how long it has been since he last saw her. He couldn't have just recently regenerated to this new version of him.

"Oh Astra, so much has happened since Eros that I haven't kept track of the actual length of time. But I do know it has been _years_ since I last saw you," he answered.

Astra understood what he meant. He was a time traveler. He bounces back and forth between timelines so specifics became blurry.

"How?"

Astra didn't need to be specific what she was asking about. The Doctor knew what she was referring to.

"Saving the world."

"From?"

"Time Lords wanting to bring Gallifrey to Earth."

"But you won the battle, right?"

He nodded.

"And yet you regenerated," she pointed out.

He nodded again.

"Why?"

The Doctor took a deep, calming breath. He hadn't thought about what happened prior to his most recent regeneration in years, but Astra wanted answers to fill in the gaps. He supposed filling in said gaps would help ease her to accepting his regenerated form.

"Remember that prophecy Carmen told us?"

"Uh-hm," she nodded.

"Well, after I lost you I did my damnedest to not let it happen," he explained. "I didn't want to go, but then I did something completely stupid. I went too far during one of my expeditions and…let's just say that I received a reminder visit from a very old friend of mine and that was my wake-up call."

"What happened next?" she prodded.

The Doctor took a deep breath and slowly expelled it. "I encountered an old nemeses of mine who died a while back, but somehow his fanatics found a way to revive him but he didn't come back quite right. He was the tool the Lord President needed to move Gallifrey out of the Time War and in to Earth. I fought him and them, and then in the end it was the Master who made the biggest sacrifice that drove Rassilon back to the Time War."

"So you survived," Astra smiled. "You weren't critically injured, were you?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"And yet you regenerated. How?" she frowned. She couldn't understand why he still changed even though he survived the battle with his life unthreatened.

The Doctor didn't answer right away. He thought about it for a while, breaking eye contact with her as he recalled that day that led to his inevitable regeneration.

"I had to save an old friend who was trapped in a box filling up with radiation. It's either him or me. I didn't want to do it. I was still rejoicing from the fact that I survived the biggest battle I have ever faced without injuring myself, and then I heard it. He knocked four times," he paused and met her gaze once again.

Astra felt his heart break. She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"It's alright," she whispered.

"He was my best mate's grandfather and a good ally to me too," he justified. "I couldn't let him die and not see his granddaughter get married and live a happy life," he explained, his hands tightening their grip on hers as a flood of emotion surged back up inside him.

Astra squeezed his hand back, reassuring him that everything was alright.

"I'm sorry. I just…I wanted to understand," she said.

"I know," he nodded.

"Earth's safe. Your best mate's married and her grandfather was there to see it. All's well in the end then, hm?" she said teasingly.

"Yeah," he nodded.

Rory watched silently while the Doctor and their newest passenger talked. Based on what he heard this woman was a former companion of the Doctor's who died – or at least the Doctor thought she died but really she didn't. This one was a doozy.

"W-would you like me to leave you two alone?" he asked when it seemed obvious the Doctor and the woman forgot he was in the room with them.

Hearing Rory's voice snapped the Doctor and Astra out of the bubble they were in.

"No, it's alright. I'm sure you need to check her and I think I need to check on the TARDIS too," the Doctor pushed himself up and off the chair. He looked back down at Astra and smiled, "I'll leave you in the capable hands of Rory the Roman here. He is a nurse and a damn fine nurse he is, or so I was told."

"Rory the _Roman?_" Astra echoed quirking an eyebrow as she turned her attention to the blushing blond haired man.

"I-it's a long story," Rory stammered.

Astra was very intrigued now, and her facial expression showed it. "I don't mind listening to long stories," she encouraged him. "I'm Astra, by the way," she introduced herself when she realized the Doctor hadn't bothered telling Rory who she was.

"Nice to meet you," Rory smiled.

Astra smiled back. He found him cute and charming. A bit timid, but that was part of his charisma she guessed.

The Doctor left Astra and Rory to get better acquainted. He stopped by the doorway and looked back. Astra must've felt him looking and turned her head his way and smiled. The Doctor felt something tingly inside and made his hearts beat twice as fast. He missed seeing that sweet, innocent smile she often has especially when her guards were down. He remained standing by the doorway a minute longer then left, not noticing that someone was hiding from sight and caught the look on his face as he looked at the woman on the bed in the room with Rory.

"I'll be careful if I were you, Doctor," River whispered to herself, her eyes watching the Doctor walk back to the direction of the console. "You're wearing your hearts on your sleeves. You never mentioned her by name, but I get the feeling that this woman was the one." She closed her eyes and took a deep, calming breath. Silent tears rolled down from her closed eyes down her cheeks.


	14. XIII River Meets Astra

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** HAPPY 2013 EVERYBODY! I hope you all had a wonderful celebration & this year started off on the right foot for all of you. I am going back to school tomorrow; Christmas break's over, but before school work consumed my life once again I finished yet another chapter for your reading pleasure. Once again I would like to thank each and every one of you who voted, commented and continues to read this on-going fanfic of mine. Constructive and non-constructive feedbacks are welcome. Thanks!

* * *

**XIII. ****River Meets Astra**

IT'S BEEN A WEEK NOW SINCE THE DOCTOR and company rescued Astra. They haven't gone to any other planet for a visit; the Doctor wanted Astra to rest and asked – no, _ordered_ Rory to keep both eyes on his patient 24/7. River was dropped back at Stormcage then the Doctor decided – without consulting either Amy or Rory first – to return back to Earth and stay at the Williams' place until Astra was back in tiptop shape.

He parked the TARDIS inside Amy and Rory's lounge, then helped Amy prepare the guest bedroom for Astra while Rory kept on eye on her inside the TARDIS until it was time for her to leave the infirmary.

"This isn't really necessary," Astra argued as the Doctor carried her out of the TARDIS and upstairs to the guest bedroom.

"Yes, it is," insisted the Doctor.

"No, it isn't," she insisted then looked over his shoulder to plea her case to Rory who was following them with his wife right beside him. Astra barely spent time with Amy during her exile inside the TARDIS infirmary, but she got better acquainted with Rory and he told her everything about his wife and the adventures the three of them had with the Doctor. "Rory, tell him I'm not an invalid, please?"

"I tried. I even gave him your full health report so he knows you've regained your strength back," Rory answered.

"Is that so?" Astra cocked an eyebrow and gave the Doctor a pointed glare.

The Doctor felt the side of his face that Astra was glaring at burn from the heat of her glare, but he kept his face averted from looking at her and started climbing the stairs to the guest bedroom two at a time. He knew she regained some of the weight she lost a few days ago when he first saw her again; he was the one who carried her back to the TARDIS after all and she felt light as a feather then compared to now.

"This is completely and utterly ridiculous!" Astra complained.

"No, it's _not,_" the Doctor insisted and stopped right outside the closed guest bedroom door.

"Oh really?" she challenged.

"Yes, _really,_" he insisted and held her gaze in a stare-off contest.

Rory and Amy stopped a good foot or two away from the couple standing outside the closed bedroom door; sparks were crackling off them as they continued to glare at each other.

"What are they doing?" Amy whispered to her husband.

"Glaring at each other?" Rory assumed, uncertain exactly on what was happening between the two aliens. Of course he was the only one who knows for certain that Astra was an alien; she looked humanoid enough to pass up as human, but she wasn't really.

"Who do you think will win?" Amy asked her giddiness showing all over her face.

Rory cocked an eyebrow and turned to look at his wife. "You want to make a wager on who will win?"

"Why not?" She raised an eyebrow in challenge.

Rory opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it. He gave a quick gaze at the couple still glaring at each other in front of the closed bedroom door.

"Astra," Rory caved in.

"I say the Doctor," Amy giggled.

Her husband rolled his eyes but said nothing. She didn't have to tell him who she picked to win; Amy always picked the Doctor. They continued to watch the couple glaring at each other. It looked like neither one was willing to concede, but Rory noticed the Doctor's jaw twitched. He didn't want to point it out to Amy in case he was mistaken, but internally he silently cheered for Astra to win. A couple more minutes lapsed and the Doctor finally gave in, causing Amy to groan in defeat and Rory let out a quiet whoop.

"Oh, all right," the Doctor put Astra down then reached in front of her to open the door. "After you," he gestured for her to precede him then stepped back to let her enter.

"Thank you," Astra curtsied at him before entering the room.

The Doctor caught the amused looks his companions were giving him and gave them an annoyed glare before he followed Astra inside. Amy and Rory exchanged bemused looks before bursting out giggling and followed the Doctor inside.

Astra received a quick tour of the Williams' home from the Doctor who took over the role of her personal tour guide instead of handing the reins down to either Amy or Rory – the actual owners of the house. At one point Amy commented about that, but Rory's comment was the one that made the Doctor blush.

"He just wants Astra all to himself that's why," the male nurse said out loud. "You know how blokes are when they want to impress a girl they fancy," he added and gave the Doctor a meaningful look.

The Doctor nearly choked on the tea and scones he was consuming at the time Rory made that comment. Astra, on the other hand, just burst out laughing at the absurdity of Rory's comment, but something about the Doctor's reaction caused her insides to react differently to the thought that Time Lord might fancy her indeed.

* * *

ASTRA WAS ABOUT TO GET INTO BED when she received an unexpected visit from the last person she thought to see again. After River's cool reception towards her during their brief encounter inside the TARDIS, Astra didn't think she'd see the curly blond haired time traveler again.

"River," Astra greeted when she saw the other woman standing in the middle of her bedroom. "What—"

River raised her forefinger and placed it against her lips, signaling Astra to keep it down.

"Nobody knows I'm here," she told her.

Astra cocked an eyebrow but did what she was asked to do. She closed the distance between them and stood face to face with the woman who fought alongside of her back in Eros against those glamoured Stygos.

"Did…did I do something wrong?" she asked wanting to get that question out of the way since it has been bugging her for days now.

"Honey, I don't even know you," River told her.

Astra frowned. How can she not know her?

"That day in Mortuus is the very first time I saw you," River answered when she read Astra's unspoken question that was written all over her face.

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," River muttered. She gestured for Astra to sit on her bed while she grabbed a stool and sat down across from her. Once both of them sat down River started, "You are obviously someone from the Doctor's past. He never mentioned you by name, but I get this feeling you are someone _dear_ to him."

Astra listened intently to what River was telling her. She wanted to know why this River Song doesn't even know her compared to the River Song she met on Eros who obviously came from the future and knew everything about her.

"River, when I first met you, not that day you caught me and the Doctor snogging – you already caught us before and your reaction was far different from your reaction that day, I tell you – but on Eros, you—"

River stopped Astra from revealing anything more than she already has by placing her index finger against Astra's lips.

"The Doctor's past is my future and his future is my past," she told a surprised Astra when she was unceremoniously silenced by River.

Astra pulled River's finger from her lips and frowned at the older woman. "How is that possible?"

"That's time travel for you, my dear," River smiled.

"So, I can't tell you anything that happened when you and I first met as far as _my_ timeline's concerned?"

River nodded. "Spoilers," was her cheeky reply.

Astra cocked an eyebrow when she heard the blonde time traveler's favourite word she used a lot.

"You still drop your favourite word when it suits you," she teased.

River chuckled and sat back. "I learned a long time ago to find a 'safe' word, per se, to stop people from bombarding me with unwanted questions about their future since I am traveling at opposite timeline from theirs," she explained.

"So you and the Doctor, what is—" again Astra found herself being shushed by River.

"Spoilers," she winked.

Astra made a face at her but dropped the subject.

"You mentioned the Doctor never mentioned me by name, when?" she asked.

"Spoilers," River smiled cheekily.

Astra made a face at the other woman again.

"If you don't want to talk about the Doctor and what happens to me in the future, then why are you here? Why did you come see me?" she asked instead.

River didn't answer right away. She didn't know herself why she came here. She could've stayed the hell away, but something about Astra made her curious especially since her mere presence got her Doctor in a tizzy.

"I just want to get to know you, if that's alright with you."

Astra was a bit taken aback.

"But we already know each other," she pointed out.

River shook her head. "This version of me doesn't know you yet, Astra," she reminded her.

"Right, right," Astra nodded. "It's weird," she confessed.

"What is?" River frowned.

"Us doing this whole getting to know you bit again when we did all of this already," she shrugged.

River was tempted to ask how they got along in Eros, but she bit her tongue before the words left her mouth. She didn't want any more spoilers this evening.

They both agreed to start with a clean slate. Astra forgot that she already met River in her past and River forgot that she has heard of Astra from her own past. They both talked about their lives and what brought them on this journey with the Doctor.

This was the night River Song found out who and what Astra Sto really was, but it was yet another secret she must keep to herself for everyone's sake.


	15. XIV Keep Your Guards Up

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** I apologize for the uber delay updating this story. School became uber crazy-busy since January and now…well, I somehow managed to find some "spare time" to work on this chapter. Hopefully it's up to everyone's liking. Constructive criticism (or any kinda comment really) is appreciated.

* * *

**XIV. ****Keep Your Guards Up**

SOMETHING WAS WRONG. THERE WAS SOMETHING tingeing the air, but Astra can't put her finger to it at the moment. The TARDIS just landed them on Sector 70 of the revolutionary planet of Tor-Dah in the Q'Ohr universe. It was one of the quasi-stable planets not yet ravished by the ongoing war the beings inhabiting this part of the galaxy were prone to do, but from the looks of Tor-Dah's City Center this planet would soon follow in the footsteps of its sister planets situated in Q'Ohr.

The Doctor was summoned by the High Commander Gragh, a formidable being made of molten lava rocks and fire. For an alien being he seemed pretty indestructible and someone one shouldn't trifle with. He and his people wore a special suit to avoid singeing other beings in their presence.

Astra was dragged along with the Ponds (she learned during her stay on Earth to recuperate that the Doctor affectionately called the Williams 'Ponds'; it was an inside joke of theirs according to Rory when Astra asked him to explain). The Doctor was giddy with excitement to show off a planet that was constantly at war to them and thought it would be quite an adventure to visit.

There was nothing funny or exciting about wars, but leave it to the Doctor and his weird sense of humor.

"Why are we here?" Astra asked the Doctor as they were being led to where the High Commander was.

"Their planet's in constant war and they need a mediator," was the Doctor's glib reply.

"And they thought _you_ would make a great mediator?" Amy questioned, her tone not quite believing him.

The Doctor raised a brow at her tone and fixed his bowtie. He squared his shoulders and said smugly, "I am the best mediator there is."

His claim was rewarded by three bemused chuckles from his companions. He each gave them an annoyed look before walking on head of them. He was a tad bit miffed that they dare to mock him. Sometimes he wondered why he let them get away with it.

_It's because you love them, you ancient sentimental fool,_ he mentally scolded himself as he pushed himself onwards while he listened to his companions follow him.

Amy, Rory and Astra fell behind the Doctor, each of them holding back their laughter. The Doctor mumbled under his breath something about companions, jealousy and rivalries. It was common for him to see some sort of competition between his old and new companions during the odd times his paths crossed with them. But that wasn't the case with the Ponds and Astra; like moth to a flame the three of them met, converged and formed a strong and steady alliance. Even River became fast friends with Astra without him knowing when or how it happened. He never got around to asking either River or Astra what changed and _when_ things changed between them since Mortuus. He was both glad and worried about this quick union River and Astra forged.

The foursome was shown to follow another guard to where High Commander Gragh was waiting for them. Unbeknownst to them two sets of glowing yellow eyes were keeping a close watch on the Doctor's blonde female companion. They could barely contain their glee upon seeing the telltale aura emanating from the blonde woman, but they must keep up appearances or risk getting caught.

Astra felt that ominous feeling once again as they neared the entrance to the High Commander's office suite. She stopped at the doorway letting the others precede her. She looked back over her shoulder at the domed roof large heavily guarded hall they just left and gave it a quick psychic scan. She picked up none when she was initially swept by this ominous feeling, but feeling it twice in a span of fifteen minutes since landing on this planet can't be coincidence. This time, however, she picked up an anomaly in her most recent scan, which made her doubly careful and quickly felt for her trusty pack she strapped to her waist hidden behind the tail of her long coat. The Doctor was still against her carrying weapons on the TARDIS, but Astra insisted she was better off fighting any unexpected enemy if she had her pack with her unlike back in Eros when she wasn't allowed to carry _anything_ to defend herself.

Against her better judgment – and due to her growing worry that something bad was about to happen – Astra sent out a telepathic warning to her companions. She hated revealing her abilities to anyone unless she was stuck between a rock and a hard place; she felt that this one was one of those situations.

"_Don't panic, it's just me. Don't let your guards down. Trouble afoot,"_ Astra warned them. She linked them all telepathically now so they can talk freely amongst themselves without worrying of being overheard by unwanted ears. She told them that too when she saw Rory turning to face her and probably question her about hearing her voice inside his head.

The Doctor's forehead creased to a frown when he heard Astra's warning. He purposely slowed his pace down and actually let Amy and Rory get ahead of him so he could fall into step beside Astra.

"What are you talking about?" he asked dropping his voice to a whisper and leaned his head closer so she was the only person who can hear.

Astra cocked an eyebrow. "I just told you we're all linked, right?" she reminded him.

"I know, but I still want to use my mouth to talk," argued the Doctor.

"Now _why_ doesn't that surprise me, hm?" Astra answered cheekily.

The Doctor made a face at her, but he couldn't find it in him to get mad or even remotely annoyed with her. He probably missed her so damn much that he wanted to just enjoy his second chance at being with her while it lasted.

"_Are you two flirting?"_ boomed Amy's voice inside their heads. "_Please tell me you two are _not _flirting!"_ she pleaded.

Astra frowned and looked at the back of the redhead's head. She was grinning from ear to ear, which Amy couldn't see but when she mentally spoke to her her grin was apparent.

"_What's wrong with a little flirting? You and your husband do it a lot, you know?"_ she teased.

That stumped Amy. She wasn't able to think of any smart comeback, instead she looked over her shoulder and glared at Astra.

Astra stuck her tongue out in response to Amy's glare before both women burst out giggling. When her eyes locked with the Doctor's she saw it filled with questions he was burning to ask her, but before he could open his mouth to ask her she stopped him.

"_Later,"_ she promised him then nodded forward to signal that they've arrived at the High Commander's office suite. "It's your time to shine, Mediator," she said out loud and gave him a slight push ahead.

* * *

THE MEETING WITH HIGH COMMANDER GRAGH lasted for hours. The Doctor and his companions were starting to get restless and temperatures in the room began to rise hotter than the Tor's naturally higher-than-normal temperature.

The Doctor wasn't expecting his good friend to demand that he – the Doctor himself – to lead the Tor-Dah army into battle against the Kwan-Daqh army that already took over the vast majority of Tor-Dah since invading the planet a few months ago during Tor-Dah's weakened state.

"What you're asking of me is unreasonable, Gragh," the Doctor argued.

"But you must!" insisted the High Commander. "Your name alone strikes fear to those who knows your reputation," he added appealing to the Doctor's ego by reminding him of the reputation he has earned over the years.

The Doctor beamed at the accolades, but he was quickly pulled back to reality when Amy mentally scolded him. He shot his companions an annoyed look before addressing the High Commander once again. He continued to argue with his old friend, trying to reason with the Tor leader at the same time.

Meanwhile Astra kept a close vigil monitoring their surroundings. Her psychic alarms were jangling like crazy; the longer they stayed here the louder the warning bells in her head sounded. It was starting to give her a pounding headache.

Amy was the first to notice her uneasiness and commented on it.

"We need to leave – _now_," Astra told her.

"The Doctor's still talking to Gragh," Amy pointed out.

"Their argument is mute," Astra said. "Gragh knows the Doctor won't change his mind. He's just stalling him now."

"How'd you know?" Amy frowned.

"Because they're just arguing in circles."

"Do you think the Doctor knows?"

"_Of course I know!"_ yelled the Doctor to them, causing the trio to flinch due to the high volume he projected his thoughts to them.

"_End your meeting now and let's head back to the TARDIS,"_ instructed Astra.

"_What if you're wrong?"_ argued the Doctor.

"_I haven't felt right since we left the TARDIS,"_ Astra argued back.

The Doctor didn't answer right away. He was still arguing with Gragh while having a telepathic argument with Astra. In as much as he hated to admit it, he too couldn't help but feel something ominous was afoot.

"Tell me, Gragh," the Doctor began and took a step closer to the High Commander, "are you being _threatened?_" he asked looking directly into the fiery eyes of his old friend.

Gragh appeared perplexed by the question, but the Doctor continued to hold his gaze hoping he'll get the meaning behind the question. If the Tor-Dah High Commander's being threatened the Doctor assumed his every move was being watched by whoever was threatening him.

"I am _always_ threatened, Doctor," Gragh answered.

"I see," the Doctor nodded. Gragh answered his suspicions. "_Get ready,"_ he warned the others. "Well then, old chap, you left me with no choice," he tsked, shaking his head as if disappointed while he stealthily slipped his sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

"What do you mean?" Gragh asked confused at what the Doctor was talking about.

The Doctor took a step back until he was with the Ponds and Astra, then he looked back at Gragh, smiling up at him acting like nothing was amiss then yelled out, "_Run!_" and led the others out of the main hall where they were taken to.

"_After them!_" yelled an annoyed Gragh when he realized what the Doctor was doing. At the heel of his command hundreds of his soldiers present took heed and chased after the Doctor and his companions, firing at them but not hurting them as that would be bad for their part if any one of the Doctor's companions were hurt in the crossfire.

"What's your plan?" Astra yelled at the Doctor on top of the laser sounds being fired at their direction.

"Uuuh, get out of here alive for starters!" the Doctor yelled back, looking over his shoulder to check on how many were on their tail.

"You have no plan?" Astra was perplexed.

"He plans on the go," Amy told Astra as the redhead caught up with the blond. Rory and the Doctor were behind them. "That's how it usually works," she added.

"That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard!" Astra glared at the man wearing a bowtie and running for his life.

"I never claimed to be perfect," the Doctor answered.

Astra was far too annoyed with the man to trust herself to say something nice back. Looking over her shoulder to assess the situation, she did a quick mental calculation then reached behind her for her handy pack that she never left the TARDIS without since Eros. She fiddled with the settings for a bit, ensuring her that when she hit those lava-like targets it would do more than just nick their special armour suits.

The Doctor noticed what she strapped on to her wrist and looked at her in alarm.

"What the hell is that?" he demanded.

"My plan," Astra answered without meeting the Doctor's eyes. She aimed at their assailant searching for a vulnerable spot that wouldn't exactly kill them, but it would at least wound the Tor and slow it down a bit.

"What plan?" he demanded then his eyes widened when instead of answering him Astra took her shot aimed at the Tors. "_Astra!_" he yelled.

"What?" she snapped at him. "You worry about getting us off this planet and I worry about making sure we don't get fried on our way back to the TARDIS."

The Doctor looked like he was about to argue some more, but Astra stopped him from further arguing by answering the elephant question in the room: "I am merely _wounding_ your precious Tors," was her cheeky response before taking aim at another Tor hot on their heels.

"We'll talk later," he told her sternly then turned his attention to the Ponds, shouting orders and directions on where to turn and what to avoid while Astra continued to cover their behinds by hindering their attackers.

Adrenaline was pumping in all four time traveler's veins as they each jumped, ducked and moved sideways to avoid any laser beams or falling and/or exploding debris that got in their way.

"I can see her now!" shouted the Doctor excitedly when the TARDIS came into view.

Amy, Rory and Astra picked up their paces a bit more once they saw their blue box salvation in sight. With the Doctor taking the lead and Astra holding back their attackers as best as she could, they all ran towards their beckon of safety. The Doctor was the first to reach the TARDIS, but something unexpected happened and he was propelled back towards the Ponds when he was about a foot or two away from reaching the TARDIS' doors.

"_Doctor!_" Amy shouted in alarm and braced herself alongside her husband to catch the madman with a box before he hit the ground.

Astra came to a dusty stop behind them and looked down at the trio. "What happened?" she demanded.

"I dunno," answered the Doctor. He had this wild look on his face as if he couldn't believe what just happened. "I couldn't get to her," he said his gaze still fixed on the TARDIS standing so close yet so far away at the same time.

Astra frowned and walked over the semi-sprawled Doctor and tried to get close to the TARDIS. She was met with an invisible shield preventing them from getting to the blue box.

"Damn," she hissed under her breath and tried punching the unseen force field even though she knew it was futile to do so.

"You didn't think you'd get away that easily, Doctor?" Gragh's voice boomed around them, but the Tor-Dah leader was nowhere to be found.

The Doctor straightened himself up, dusting his sleeves and pants as he did so, then looked up at the ceiling in general when he answered the High Commander.

"I told you, Gragh, my answer is no," he repeated appearing and sounding smugger than usual.

"Sorry, Doctor, this time you have no choice in the matter," answered Gragh who appeared from the spiraling thick smoke created by his fellow Tors in pursuit of them, but the High Commander's attention wasn't focused on the Doctor but rather on one of his companions he was protecting behind him.

The Doctor followed the giant Tor's gaze and it landed square on his newly re-acquired companion: Astra. He cocked an eyebrow at the befuddled blonde then looked back at the Tor.

"What would you want with her?" he demanded, his tone laced with menace as he kept his temper in check.

"Not me. I don't care a whit about that human," spat the High Commander.

"If not you, who then?"

"That's none of your business, Doctor."

"Wrong. It _is_ my business since she's traveling with me, and anyone in my traveling party is therefore _my_ responsibility."

"Doesn't matter. We _will_ take the girl from you with or without your permission."

"I was afraid you will say that," tsked the Doctor.

"And why is that, Doctor?" questioned the Tor-Dah leader.

"Because, Gragh, you just crossed the line in our friendship wherein which you can never cross back from," the Doctor answered cryptically.

The High Commander was rendered confounded for a moment. Even Astra was confused and sought out Amy and Rory's help to translate what he meant.

"He's severing their friendship right here, right now," explained Amy.

"I see," Astra nodded. "Why?"

"Because the High Commander wanted to harm one of his companions, that's why," it was Rory who answered.

Astra regarded the Tor leader closely, studying the hulking walking-talking lavaman carefully and tried to get a good read on him. She tried to hone in on that lurking feeling for foreboding she felt earlier. Usually she'd be able to sense it from the person who wanted to do harm on to someone else, but all she was getting from the Tor commander was a mixed bag of overrun emotions. That was weird considering the High Commander was willing to use force to snatch her – why her, anyway? – away from the Doctor and the Ponds.

"Give the girl to us and you and your other companions can go in peace," demanded Gragh.

"Never," was the Doctor's stubborn reply. "She came with me, therefore she _leaves_ with me," he stated.

"If only it was that easy, Doctor," mocked the High Commander. "You can't win against us. Your transportation will be held shielded from you, thus rendering you unable to depart," he pointed out.

The Doctor couldn't think of any witty comeback to throw at the High Commander at that very moment. He was currently in the midst of trying to figure out a way for him and his companions to leave this planet and never return if he had a choice and at the same time freeing the TARDIS from the shield the Tors used on her.

"_Astra?"_

Astra was startled to hear the Doctor's voice in her head. She didn't think he'd bother using their telepathic link to talk to her.

"_Yeah?"_

"_Do you have anything on your person that could lower the shield blocking us from getting to the TARDIS?"_ he asked.

"_I could try upping the setting on my weapon, but I doubt I'll have enough power to lower the shield before it runs out."_

A flicker of hope lit up the Doctor's dwindling self-confidence. "_Would my screwdriver be of any assistance?"_ he asked hopefully.

"_It might, but that could drain your screwdriver off its power,"_ she warned him.

"_Yeah, well, but at least it's worth a shot, eh?"_

"_It damn better work,"_ hissed Amy who was listening in on the Doctor and Astra's conversation while keeping her eyes trained on the Tors that surrounded them.

"_Fine. Sonic me, Doctor,"_ Astra instructed and held out her wrist.

The Doctor activated his sonic screwdriver and aimed it in the general direction he figured Astra's weapon was since his back was to her.

"_That's it. Stall Gragh,"_ she ordered while she looked for the proper setting to lower the shield separating them from the TARDIS.

"_With pleasure,"_ the Doctor grinned and to the High Commander he asked, "Tell me, Gragh, why are you interested in one of my companions? They're just humans – nothing _really_ special about them."

"_Hey!_" Amy complained out loud and swatted his shoulder to let him know she didn't appreciate what he just said about her race.

"_I said stall Gragh not insult people, Doctor,"_ Astra scolded.

"_Sorry. Didn't mean to insult present company,"_ the Doctor apologized. He continued to work on stalling Gragh until Astra gave them the signal that the shield has weakened and they can get through. It was taking Astra rather a long time to weaken the shield, but it was working nevertheless.

"_I only need a few more seconds, Doctor. Keep stalling him,"_ Astra encouraged.

"_I'm running out of stalling things to say to him,"_ he confided to his companions.

"What do these people who hired you to take me from the Doctor want from me?" Astra asked out loud. The Doctor and the Ponds gave her a queer look, surprised at her drawing the High Commander's attention to herself when moments ago she was urging the Doctor to continue stalling the lava creature.

"_What are you doing?"_ demanded the Doctor.

"_Shield's almost lowered. Amy, Rory, start backing up slowly while I have Gragh's attention,"_ Astra instructed, her gaze on the High Commander never wavering.

"I told you, I don't—"

"_Liar!_" Astra accused, cutting the High Commander off mid-sentence. "Surely you know _why_ I am required if you are willing to sacrifice your friendship with the Doctor," she taunted. "Did whoever hire you to do this offer you their allegiance and support against this ongoing war your galaxy's engaged on?"

Gragh snarled something nasty at her. Astra maintained her cool and actually smirked smugly at the High Commander.

"That's it, huh? That's the tradeoff you agreed to," from the corner of her eye she saw the Ponds have safely backed in to the lowered shield and was still undetected.

"_You're next, Doctor,"_ she told the man who remained standing in front of her, blocking her from the Tor-Dah leader.

"_No."_

"_Now's not the time to argue. You know as well as we do that you're the only person – aside from River – who can handle the TARDIS_,"she told him and to prove she meant business she walked around the Doctor and faced off with Gragh herself.

"_Astra!_" the Doctor mentally hissed at her.

"_Amy and Rory are waiting, Doctor,"_ she shooed him away. "How good is this person's word to you, huh, Gragh? How can you be certain that once you hand me off to them they wouldn't just up and leave you to defend your own hides?" Astra continued to goad the Tor-Dah leader while mentally she was having an argument with the Doctor. He didn't want to budge while Amy and Rory were doing their best to convince him to move and join them on the other side of the shield.

"_Astra, stop stalling and move!"_ demanded the Doctor.

"_I need to keep his attention focused on me so you can move, Doctor. Now please stop being so stubborn and _move_!"_ Astra ordered.

The Doctor knew she was right. One of them needed to keep the High Commander distracted, because if he was distracted his minions would be too; they'd be paying attention to Gragh and very little attention to them. But he'd be damned if he move to safety and leave Astra to be captured by Gragh and traded off to whoever villain the High Commander made a deal with.

"_Amy, Rory, on my signal run and open both doors of the TARDIS,"_ ordered the Doctor.

"_Okay,"_ agreed the couple.

Astra wasn't paying attention to what was happening with her companions. She was far too busy distracting the High Commander that it took her by surprise when she felt herself manhandled by the last person she expected to pick her up and hoist her over his shoulder like she weighed nothing but a sack of flour.

"_Oi!_ What are you doing?" Astra demanded.

"Saving your life!" answered the Doctor who made a mad dash towards through the weakened shield and through the open TARDIS doors.

"What?" Astra was too shocked to say anything intelligent at the moment. She lifted her head in time to see Gragh point one of his laser canon guns at them.

"_Doc-toooooooooooooor!_" growled a furious Gragh when he saw what happened. He aimed his weapon at the escaping Time Lord and the blonde woman who was to be his people's salvation.

"Doctor, he's going to pulverize us!" exclaimed Astra.

"Amy, Rory, open those doors!" ordered the Doctor who ran with all his might carrying Astra over his shoulder and barreled through the TARDIS' open doors. "Close it quickly!" he ordered over his shoulder, stopping quickly to drop a still stunned Astra off his shoulder and ran toward the console. He started barking orders at the couple as he readied the TARDIS to dematerialize off this planet.

Astra watched the trio scramble around the console trying to get themselves off this rock. She walked back to the door and opened it to take a peek outside. What greeted her was a big, hot flash of orange red fire that Gragh threw at them. She screamed and fell back away from the door in surprise.

The Doctor heard Astra's scream and looked up. He saw her fall on the floor away from the now open TARDIS door.

"_Astra!_" he called in alarm. "Rory, close the door and help Astra," the Doctor ordered the nurse.

Rory didn't argue with the Doctor. They were all running on adrenaline and all he could think of was leaving this war-ravaged planet behind in one piece. He reached Astra and helped the blonde woman up.

"Are you okay?" he asked once she was upright.

"Gragh's going to burn us. He's using fire instead of laser to shoot the TARDIS," Astra told him.

"We're still protected by the shield they erected!" Amy told them. She held on to the railing while the Doctor frantically moved around behind her.

Rory and Astra walked back to the door and took a peek. The shield that kept them away from the TARDIS moments ago was doing what it was supposed to do: keep the unwanted out.

"That's shield's not going to last long," Astra assessed. "I lowered its defenses, remember?" she cast the Doctor a forlorn look over her shoulder.

"Close the door! We're ready to go!" the Doctor ordered and the familiar metallic whooshing sound of the TARDIS echoed around them.

Rory slammed the door shut and grabbed Astra's hand, taking her back up to the console with the rest of them.

"What will happen to Gragh and his people now?" Amy questioned the Doctor.

"I don't know," he answered.

"You must know or at least have an inkling," the red haired woman cajoled.

"No," the Doctor answered. His eyes showed something akin to murderous as he stared at the monitor overheard. He wasn't looking at any one of his three companions. His attention was focused on the planet they just left.

"Doctor—" Amy had more questions, but the Doctor wasn't in the mood to answer them all.

It was Astra who stopped the other woman from bombarding the Time Lord with further questions.

"You can expect the worse from the people Gragh bargained with," she told the stunned human.

Rory moved swiftly beside his wife and wrapped his arms around her, offering her support. He doesn't need to ask Astra to explain what she meant.

The Doctor listened to his companions' conversation, but he chose not to join them. He was having a mental conversation with himself about many things, but mostly it concerns only one person: Astra.

* * *

**A/N2:** Here you go, folks. Sorry for the delay. I'm doing my job placement for school right now and in April I'm going this year's Camp Nanowrimo yet again, so updating this story might take a while once again. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'll try and update this story before April if I can.


	16. XV Daughter of the Stars

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the delay yet again. I decided to join Camp NaNoWriMo last month (April) and at the same time it was finals time for school. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter addition to this fic. Read, Comment, Vote, Like & Share if you will! Thanks!

XV. Daughter of the Stars

THE DOCTOR RAN A FULL BODY SCAN ON ASTRA while she was busy talking to Amy and Rory on the other side of the console away from where he was working – or _pretending_ to be working – on something that pertained to their next destination. Today's adventure against Gragh and his Tor-Dah army was the second time Astra was targeted. He let it slide when the Stygos targeted her in Eros, but Tor-Dah's as well? It can't be a coincidence because he doesn't believe in them. There has got to be something about Astra Sto that made her a prime target.

Sexy finished scanning his blonde companion in less than a minute. He looked at the information on the screen Sexy gathered and couldn't believe his eyes. He looked away from the screen to Astra then back on the screen again. His blue eyes widening slowly as he further read Sexy's findings about his mysterious companion.

"It's not possible," he said under his breath. His blue eyes wide as saucers he stepped away from the monitor and stared in dumbstruck silence at Astra. He was processing everything the TARDIS found out about her, and her bio-scan showed something that clearly wasn't possible and yet it _was_ possible because he was currently looking at her – in the flesh.

# # #

ASTRA COULD TELL SOMETHING was bothering the Doctor. He'd been insanely quiet since they left Q'Ohr, which was unusual and a relief at the same time, but Astra got to know the man a bit and knew that when he becomes silent something usually was wrong.

She waited until Amy and Rory retired for the night. The Doctor was fiddling with the console's wiring below, sitting on his comfy swing with welder's goggles on to protect his eyes from sparks flying when he accidentally connects two wires that shouldn't be connected together. She joined him underneath the console, sitting at the the steps watching him work. Astra could still not believe this was the same Doctor she met just a few months ago (in her mind she and the Doctor have only just met, but in this Doctor's timeline it had been _years_ since they first met).

"Something wrong?" she asked skipping the usual run-about and went straight to the point.

The Doctor jumped when he heard Astra spoke. Clearly his mind was wandering off if she was able to surprise him.

"No," he denied but he avoided looking at her.

"C'mon Doctor, I know there's something bothering you," she chided. "Amy and Rory are both abed, we can talk freely," she invited.

The Doctor stopped fiddling with the TARDIS' wirings. He slowly lowered his hands and turned his attention to his blond companion seated on the foot of the stairs.

"What made you think I can't talk freely if Amy or Rory are awake?" he questioned.

Astra gave a slight shrug. She pushed herself off where she was sitting and crossed the distance separating her and Doctor. She stopped when she was a good foot away from him. She looked up to make sure that wherever she put her hand on to lean against was safe to touch and not electrocute her.

"It's clear to me how _fond_ you are of your precious Ponds, especially Amy," she told him. "Whatever it is that's bothering you must have something to do with her otherwise you wouldn't be this distraught about it."

"So what if I'm fond of Amy and Rory? She was the first face this face saw, you know? Amy, I mean. She made quite a lasting impression since I regenerated to this version of me now," he told her sounding a tad bit whimsical.

"You're stalling, Doctor," she singsong.

"What if I am?" he challenged.

Astra made a face at the man whose age far surpassed hers and yet the face looking back at her was that of a young man – a boy even – who doesn't look a day over twenty-one! But looks can be deceiving; all Astra had to do was look into the Doctor's eyes to see his real age.

The Doctor kept himself still while Astra continued to look at him. He let her believe that whatever was bothering him it had something to do with Amy and Rory when in fact _she_ was the very reason behind his worrisome mood.

"C'mon, Doctor, you know you can tell me," she chided.

The Doctor smiled at her attempt to wheedle whatever was bothering him out of him.

"Who exactly are you, Astra Sto?" He didn't realize he asked the question out loud until he saw Astra gave him a funny confused face.

Astra was startled to be asked a direct question. She expected him to start questioning who she was, but she didn't expect it to happen this soon.

"Who do you think I am?" was her glib reply, taking a small step back and clasped her hands together behind her.

"You're an enigma, Astra Sto, I tell you that," the Doctor replied, his gaze moving up and down her person trying to figure out what was so special about her.

"A good enigma or a bad enigma?" she joked.

The Doctor made a face. "Back in Eros, the Stygo leader accused you of being a Starlyte," he began, his eyes still assessing her when he spoke. "_Why_ would a Stygo accuse you of being a member of a race believed to be a myth?" he questioned.

"Are you sure Starlytes are a myth?" Astra asked back.

"They're not?"

Astra didn't answer right away. She took a deep breath, lifted one shoulder in a shrug then walked away from the Doctor. She reclaimed her spot back on the steps and looked back at the man still sitting on the swing watching her.

"What do you know of the Starlytes?"

The Doctor wasn't expecting her to change the subject, and his surprise showed on his face, but Astra didn't say anything; she just sat there and waited patiently for him to give her an answer.

"Well," he began. He wasn't expecting to be put on the spot when it was him who initiated this interrogation. "They are a rare race. No one really knows exactly where in the universe they live, and believe me I tried looking for them on and off since I started my travels, but I have never once come across a Starlyte nor have I found what galaxy they live in."

"Is that _all_ you know about them?" Astra prodded.

"No," he shook his head and got off the swing. He crossed the space between them, stopping at the foot of the steps resting one hand on the railing and propping one foot on the step. Astra sat at a good eye-level with him when standing so he didn't have to look down at her. "I heard Starlytes are mostly female. It is quite seldom that a male Starlyte exist; they seem to not exist at all, but I find that quite preposterous since…well, _how_ do you suppose the Starlytes populate if they don't have a mate?"

"Starlytes are a mystery to you, aren't they, Doctor?" Astra mused.

The Doctor took his time from answering. He studied his companion carefully, recalling past incidents and everything else he learned about this mysterious woman he picked up in Phizix all those years ago. She was accused of being a Starlyte and yet she denied it. He thought she was human when he first encountered her, but after certain events in Eros led him to believe that she was in fact an alien in humanoid form just like himself. Well, she looked Time Lord since Time Lords came first.

"Starlytes are an enigma to me, yes," he admitted but he seemed pretty dejected to have to admit that. "They are as much an enigma to me as you are, Astra Sto," he added.

Astra cocked an eyebrow questioningly. "Oh?"

"Yeah," he nodded and leaned closer until their noses almost touched. "You are _not_ human, Astra Sto, and what you are is an impossibility."

"_Impossibility?_" she echoed.

"Yes," he nodded.

Astra studied the man looking at her. She could tell he was having a gazillion questions running amok in that head of his, but he doesn't have a clue as to how or what to ask her first. She tried getting in to his mind just to find out exactly what he thinks of her. She was careful not to let him know she was snooping in his head. She wasn't a fan of invading others' thoughts, but sometimes she felt like she had to in order to gain some insight and get her bearings straight.

"You already know the answer, Doctor," she said after a while.

"No, I don't," he denied.

She cocked an eyebrow in challenge. She stood up from her seat forcing the Doctor to take a step back and let her come down from the steps until they were standing toe to toe with one another.

"You just don't want to believe it," she taunted.

The Doctor glared at her.

"That's not possible," he denied.

"No?" she challenged.

"No," he insisted. He squared his shoulders and tried looking down his nose at her, but it was a bit hard to do since Astra was a tall woman.

"But it is," she insisted.

"No way," the Doctor staggered backwards in surprise when Astra suddenly began to glow from the tip of her head down to her toes. She was glowing like a star in the sky. "W-what are you doing?" he asked.

Astra remained standing where she was. "Showing you the real me," she answered.

"You're glowing!" he exclaimed.

She cocked an eyebrow then looked down at herself before fixing her gaze back on the startled Time Lord.

"Don't stars glow?" she asked.

The Doctor was having a hard time forming a cohesive thought while staring dumbfounded at the blonde woman who claimed to be from a race believed to be a myth and yet here she was proving to him that she wasn't. He grew up hearing and reading about the stories of the Starlytes. They were a very rare but plenty powerful race. Their powers are energies that could be converted to anything and everything; most powerful of all was their ability to create and control supernovas.

"But…but…your kind doesn't exist anymore," he insisted as he carefully walked closer to where Astra stood. Although she was glowing, Astra was controlling the glow so she doesn't blind him or anyone else.

"That's what the Council of Elders wanted everyone to believe," she answered. She concealed her natural glow once again now that she already made her point.

"Council of Elders?" he questioned.

Astra nodded.

"Why would they want others to think that Starlytes are myths?"

"You know what us Starlytes are capable of, right?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Then you already know the answer to your own question."

"No, I…" the Doctor's voice trailed off when things began to make sense to him now. First the Stygos in Eros wanted her because they found out that she was a Starlyte incognito, then in Tor-Dah whoever Gragh was in cahoots with knew exactly what Astra was hence why Gragh wanted her. "You're a weapon!" he surmised, his eyes nearly bulging out from their sockets.

Astra stifled a yelp when the Doctor was suddenly invading her personal space. He grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her closer, his forehead pressed against hers until she thought she'd go cross-eyed.

"Starlytes _are_ weapons," the Doctor said through gritted teeth. His grip on Astra's arms was tightening and it was hurting her. "Your lot's made to be _the_ ultimate weapon."

"Yes, we _are_ weapons," Astra didn't deny what he assumed her kind was. "In the wrong hands we Starlytes can be destructive, but in the right hands we can be more than what quite a lot preconceived us to be," she argued.

"What were you really doing in Phizix?" he questioned, his hold on her arms didn't loosen up and it was now starting to hurt her.

"I was waiting for you," she admitted.

"Why?"

"To help you."

"Help me with what?"

"With everything and anything within my power."

"That's not an answer!"

"That's all the answer I can give you."

The Doctor took in a deep, sharp breath and gripped her arms tighter than before then quickly let her go. Astra stumbled a bit but she didn't lose her footing. Her upper arms still burned from where he gripped her, but she could heal the bruises later.

"Doctor, I am _with_ you not _against_ you," she pointed out. "There is a perfectly good reason why I was in Phizix waiting for you, but I cannot tell you what that reason is. All that matters right now is that I am traveling with you and that who I really am must remain hidden for yours and my sake," she explained.

The Doctor took his time from turning around to face her. He heard her; he heard the sincerity in her tone and he knew if he turned around and looked into her eyes he'd see that she was telling him the truth. Something in his gut told him what Astra was talking about meant something far more dangerous than what those Stygos in Eros planned to do to the planet, but then he has her – Astra – on his side. He has a proper _Starlyte_ lending him a hand on whatever this…

"Armageddon," he whispered.

"Pardon?" Astra frowned, straining her ear to hear what the Doctor just said.

The Doctor's eyes widen as he recalled that time years ago, shortly after he regenerated for the ninth time before he met Rose Tyler. He was visited by a woman – _Astrid!_ Yes, now he remembered. No wonder she looked familiar when he ran into her on the _Titanic_, but that time onboard that doomed ship she didn't seem to recognize him. But that time on the TARDIS when he first saw Astrid she warned him about an impending Armageddon. He never saw her again until that fateful trip onboard the _Titanic_, but during that time she didn't know him and he wasn't able to save her. Instead she turned to stardust and he released her to be amongst the stars she longed to see. And Starlytes are a race of stars composed mostly of stardust.

Astrid was turned to stardust, and stardust are Starlytes, and Astra was a Starlyte then that could only mean…

"_Astrid!_" the Doctor exclaimed excitedly and pulled Astra into a tight hug.

Astra was momentarily stunned. She didn't expect the Doctor to scoop her up and squeeze the air out of her so tightly. And didn't he just call her 'Astrid'?

"Doctor," she tried to wiggle herself out of his embrace, but the man was hugging her so damn tight it was impossible for her to get away. "Doctor, I can't breathe!" she complained.

"Oh! Sorry!" he jumped back and let go of her, but he didn't move away. He held her by her upper arms, right on the very same spot he just squeezed moments before only this time he was holding them gently. "I'm just…I'm just…_speechless!_" he admitted.

"I can see that, but Doctor, I am _not_ Astrid," Astra told him.

"Of course you are! I remember now. You came to me on the TARDIS long before our paths crossed."

"That wasn't me."

"You're a Starlyte," he reminded her. "Starlytes can take on any form they chose to, granted you're stardust to begin with, which you did become after the events onboard the _Titanic_."

"That's great, but that's not me," she insisted.

The Doctor was about to argue some more with her, but Astra was able to get her arms free from his hold and placed her index finger against his lips to stop him from talking.

"Doctor, hard as it is to believe, but I am _not_ Astrid," she told him. "However, I _came_ from Astrid."

The Doctor frowned and pulled her hand away, "Explain."

"I am a daughter of the stars. Astrid created me because she can no longer take on a corporeal form of herself. She can astral project an image of what she once looked like, kinda like what she did when she visited you that time before you two actually crossed paths, but that is all she can do. Creating another form and making it corporeal was one of the things Starlytes can do. When I was created, Astrid gave a part of herself to me, so in a weird way she somehow gave birth to me – Astra," she explained.

The Doctor was slowly following what she was explaining. He was still wrapping his head around how Astra came to be and how she was a part of Astrid.

"And what were you doing in Phizix?" he asked again. So far Astra explained how she came to be who and what she was, but she hasn't given him an answer about why she was with him.

Astra didn't answer right away. There was no easy way to tell him what she was really doing in Phizix.

"That was the place of my creation. Astrid knew you'd be there and you'd most likely need some help leaving Phizix," she answered.

"So Astrid left you there to wait for my arrival."

"Yes, you can say that," she agreed. "But I didn't wait too long for you," she added with a grin.


	17. XVI Timelines Collide

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** This is my own take at what happened inside the TARDIS shortly after Earth was safely returned back to its proper galaxy nearing the end of "Journey's End" episode – and then it will converge with the regular fic storyline from there.

* * *

**XVI. ****Timelines Collide**

_Somewhere in Space circa 2008…_

EARTH WAS BACK WHERE IT BELONGED. EVERYONE inside the TARDIS was rejoicing – even the metacrisis Doctor couldn't help but feel this overwhelming emotion of joy and love and all-around good-feeling as he watched the people gathered around the console that helped tow Earth back from the Medusa Cascade.

He was circling the console from left to right while Donna, the human responsible for his creation (sorta anyway), was circling the console from right to left. They met at the center just behind Jackie Tyler and Mickey Smith. They shared a smile; a knowing smile like twins who could tell what the other was feeling or thinking without the need of words to express it.

"It's over," sighed Donna as she leaned back against the TARDIS railing crossing her arms over her chest and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah," Meta-Doctor agreed, grinning as his eyes looked over the familiar faces crowded around the console.

"So what's gonna happen then? You coming along with the Doctor and me?" Donna asked after a while.

Meta-Doctor snapped out of his quiet reverie and looked down at the cheeky redhead beside him. Who would've thought _she_ would be the most important woman in earth's history to save the human race from extinction?

"I suppose so, yeah," he nodded, but something in his gut screamed at him that that wouldn't be the case. He looked across the TARDIS and caught the Doctor's eyes; he was watching him closely. He knew what he was thinking, and quite frankly he couldn't have been happier with the Doctor's decision.

"What do you mean—_whoa!_" Donna yelped and was pitched forward. She would've ended up smashed up against the console had Meta-Doctor hadn't been there to catch her and pull her back against him.

The TARDIS was acting strange. Everyone's merrymaking quickly stopped as they all hung on to something to keep them from falling or flying off somewhere.

"What the bloody hell's going on?!" demanded Donna as she hung on to him.

"I don't know," was his honest reply. He searched the room and found the Doctor with his arms wrapped around Rose and Martha who were both hanging on for dear life. Mickey stood protectively by Sarah Jane while Jackie was probably enjoying Jack's arms protectively wrapped around her as the men tried to keep the women from being pitched all over the place while the TARDIS seemed to be having a temperamental episode.

"I thought we brought the earth safely back to its galaxy?" questioned a confused Jackie, her eyes wavering from the Doctor to the Meta-Doctor and back; she was waiting for an answer from either one of them.

"We did," the Doctor answered.

"Then what the hell is going on?" she angrily demanded.

"I don't know!" he answered then looked at the Meta-Doctor and Donna. "Any ideas?" he asked either one of them.

"I'm fresh out!" Donna snapped. "You're the one closest to the monitor – check it out!" she barked and pointed at the monitor swinging from side to side in front of the Doctor.

"Right," agreed the Doctor. He removed his arms from Martha and Rose and reached for the monitor. His eyes nearly bulged out from their sockets when he saw what was happening to the TARDIS and where they were being taken. "That can't be right," he muttered as he held on to the monitor tight.

"What's the matter?" asked Rose. She tried to take a peek at the screen, but with the TARDIS being too bumpy it was tougher than it seemed the thought entered her mind.

"Where are we going, Doctor?" it was Martha who asked the question this time.

"Is Luke safe?" Sarah Jane called out in panic.

"He's alright, Sarah," the Doctor reassured her. "It's us who isn't," he added more to himself, but unfortunately for him both Martha and Rose heard him.

"What?!" they exclaimed in unison.

"What's going on, Doctor?" Jack managed to walk towards them, leaving Jackie to stand by Donna and the Meta-Doctor. "What's happening to her?"

"I don't know. She's acting strange," he started typing something random on the keyboard hoping to override whatever has taken over the TARDIS.

"Strange how?" questioned Martha. The last time the TARDIS hijacked them like this they ended up in another world where humans thought they'd been at war for centuries when in fact it had only been days since the spaceship crash landed. "Where is she taking us this time?"

The Doctor didn't answer right away. He was busy trying to avoid the inevitable, but his companions wouldn't let him drop the subject without an answer.

"_Doctor!_" Martha yelled at him.

He ignored her. He kept on working a way to avoid the inevitable, but the TARDIS wasn't letting him. A few more minutes of rattling, shaking and the occasional sparks flying around them, the TARDIS stopped and landed them somewhere they shouldn't be…

* * *

_Somewhere in Space Present Time…_

_DOCTOR!_" AMY SCREAMED as she was thrown back and forth and around the console. Rory was bouncing around the console as well with her while the Doctor tried to regain control of the temperamental spaceship. Astra was doing her best to keep herself from flying across the console as well and remained by the Doctor's side.

"What is happening?" Astra demanded as she hung on to the console's sides.

"I don't know. Sexy's gone wibbly-wobbly again," admitted the Doctor.

"What?" Rory and Amy said in unison. The couple finally made it around to the side where the Doctor and Astra were. "What do you mean 'wibbly-wobbly' again? You mean you don't know?" Amy was being hysterical again.

"Amy, stop that," ordered the Doctor then he looked at Rory. "Rory, make her stop that," he ordered the nurse before getting back to working on getting them out of this jam.

Astra glanced at the monitor to see where they were going. She frowned when she saw the coordinates and looked at the man piloting the ship questioningly.

"I thought you said we all deserve a vacation after Tor-Dah?"

"Yes. Yes, we do," agreed the Doctor.

"Then _why_ are these coordinates _not_ the coordinates to the happiest place in the world?" she demanded.

"McDonald's?" the Doctor was momentarily distracted when he looked at her. "I am not hungry."

Astra made a face and slapped his upper arm. "Disney World," she corrected.

"_Ow!_" the Doctor jumped at the unexpected slap. "Disney World, right, right," he nodded remembering what the four of them agreed on going. He couldn't believe his arms were twisted by his two female companions to drop the idea of going to a futuristic Disney World; Astra and Amy insisted they wanted to see the present-day Disney World in present-day Florida and neither one would budge. Rory had a vote in it too, but Amy and Astra didn't count his vote so the Doctor was beat two against one.

"This is _not_ Disney World," Astra snarled.

"I can see that," agreed the Doctor.

"What's happening? Doctor?"

"I—I don't—I don't know," he stopped fiddling with the controls and looked as helpless as he could ever be.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"How can you _not_ know?" it was Amy who demanded that question.

"Because…because…_aaaaargh!_" he snarled and glared at the trio looking at him expectantly.

Amy and Astra returned his glare, crossing their arms across their chests and jutting their chins up. Rory, on the other hand, chose to not show any reaction at all; right now he doesn't care whether they end up in Disney World or a different planet calling itself Disney World.

The Doctor was saved from answering and justifying the TARDIS' action when they heard a familiar whooshing metal grinding sound. Strong gusts of wind accompanied the sound before a familiar blue box appeared by the entrance.

Amy and Rory gave the Doctor an alarmed and worried look. Something like this happened once before, but for it to happen again?

The Doctor read the question on the couple's faces. He too was remembering that time something like this happened.

"I don't believe in coincidences," he told Amy and Rory.

"Then have you got an explanation for that?" Amy demanded and pointed at the blue box that materialized right before their very eyes.

The Doctor opened his mouth ready to answer, but he quickly shut it when he couldn't think of any plausible answer. He looked back at the box then to his companions then back at the box again. This was too freaky right now and he doesn't know what to think.

"If you guys want answers, then let's go and find out instead of standing around here guessing," Astra suggested and was already halfway to the box in question.

"Astra, no!" the Doctor's warning came a second too late. She was already two steps away from the door when the blue box's door was pulled open and a familiar head stuck out, surprising both Astra and the Doctor when they recognized who it was.

"No way!" the Doctor exclaimed and quickly walked away from the console.

Astra, on the other hand, marveled at the sight before her. She knew this was a paradox happening right here, right now, but the glee she felt inside made her not think about that at the moment and just basked in it.

"_Doctor!_" she exclaimed excitedly and without thinking – and due to her growing excitement – pulled the man wearing the brown pinstripe suit and covered his mouth with hers.

The Doctor – with Amy and Rory following closely behind him – skidded to a stop as he watched Astra lock lips with another man who was not him but was him from a different time before that version of him met Astra. He felt a slight tug of jealousy as he watched which was ridiculous since that was him from the past.

* * *

THE DOCTOR WASN'T EXPECTING TO be mugged and mauled by an attractive blonde with an angelic face and lips as sweet as sin that he was currently enjoying tasting. He has no idea who she was, but from the way she was kissing him _she_ obviously knew him.

"Doctor, what hap—_Doctor!_"

The Doctor jumped away from the alluring blonde kissing him when he heard Rose called his name. He felt slightly sheepish being caught kissing another woman when just hours before he was giddy with excitement seeing Rose once again after all these years. Although a part of him felt like he knew this alluring blonde with the face of an angel and lips of a sinner, there was still that question of from _when_ did he know her?

"_Rose!_" He didn't mean to sound too guilty for being caught snogging another woman, but the slight pitch in his voice said so otherwise.

"What's going on?" Rose questioned as she stepped out of the TARDIS, her eyes straying from him to the woman with him then back at him.

"I-I don't know…yet," he answered casting an uneasy look at the blonde woman who just jumped him.

"What the hell is going on? Are we on earth yet?" Donna demanded stepping out of the TARDIS followed by Marth, then Sarah Jane and Jack; Mickey stepped out with Jackie and lastly the metacrisis Doctor left the TARDIS.

"There's two of you!" exclaimed the still unnamed blonde. She had a wild look on her face as she looked back and forth between him and the Meta-Doctor, then she looked over her shoulder to address her companions. "_You_ have a _twin?!_"

Everyone's attention turned to the other three people with them. They all shared the same comical look the Doctor had after they heard the blonde's question to the boyish-looking bowtie wearing man.

"Hang on, what the bloody hell's going on?" demanded Donna who was looking at the man with the bowtie, then to the man wearing the brown pinstripe suit before her gaze landed on the other suit-wearing man in blue.

"Good question," agreed the other redhead in the room standing behind the man wearing the bowtie and tweed jacket.

* * *

**A/N 2:** Well? What do you think of this chapter? I had fun writing this. I'm so happy I was able to bring back the 'old gang' for this chapter and probably in the next few chapters. Let me know what you think & if you like it, please VOTE & share the love! J I have the next chapter finished and currently working on the chapter after that. Maybe this week I'll get a bit productive and update more than once.


	18. XVII What the Hell Happened?

**Disclaimer:** - see previous chapter -

**Author's Note:** It is safe to say that my muse for this fanfic is back and working overtime to help me produce chapter after chapter update. Hopefully the last few chapters I uploaded are to your reading pleasure's satisfaction.

* * *

**XVII. ****What the Hell Happened?**

THE DOCTOR WAS MOMENTARILY RENDERED speechless as he gazed at the people who trickled out of his old TARDIS. A lump formed in his throat when his eyes landed on the red haired spitfire of a woman; the woman who was his best mate, but now she hardly even know he existed. God how he missed her; he missed Donna more than he missed anyone he traveled with.

He felt everyone's eyes on him, expecting him to explain what just happened; funny how they all expected him to have answers to everything.

"Hello, everyone!" He applauded himself for sounding confident and not rattled. He walked up to Astra and reached for her hand. He slowly pulled her back and away from the younger version of himself who really looked much older than his current regeneration, but if he went by numbers the man in brown pinstripe was indeed younger.

"You have a _twin?_" Astra repeated her question.

"No, of course not. Don't be daft, Astra," he answered.

"I'm not! But unless the TARDIS is doing something to my vision, I am seeing _two_ of you!"

"No, the TARDIS is not doing anything to your vision. And there's a perfectly good explanation for seeing double of me from my past."

"Really?" Astra challenged and crossed her arms over her midriff.

"Bugger," the Doctor said under his breath. He forgot how stubborn she could be especially when she had a bee in her bonnet. He looked at the younger version of him and asked to explain why there was a second Doctor with him.

Past-Doctor cleared his throat to attract Astra's attention. Once he has her full attention he went on to explain what happened prior to them appearing inside the TARDIS. Once he was certain that Astra and the other two companions understood what has happened, he then took the opportunity to introduce his own set of companions.

Astra listened carefully and acknowledged each companion with a smile and a nod. Once the explanation and introduction was over she turned to look at the Doctor.

"This is you before I met this version of you," she said.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded stealing a quick glance at his younger self and watching that different face contort to a confused frown after hearing what Astra just said.

He looked back and forth between Astra and the future version of himself. Based on the welcome kiss he received from the stubborn blonde, he deduced that he and Astra were intimate. Now the question about _how_ intimate he couldn't tell, but one thing he knew for certain: Astra wasn't River Song, the woman he met at the Library who whispered his name – his _real_ name – to him just to prove to him that she was an ally and not a foe.

"What the hell's going on?" he asked echoing Donna's earlier query.

"Yeah, Doctor, tell us," Amy seconded the Past-Doctor's question. She and Rory joined Astra and the Doctor to mingle with their unexpected guests.

Again panic started to rise from deep within his gut. He doesn't like this; a younger version of him and the TARDIS filled with old companions materialized inside the TARDIS. Something wasn't right when he crashed into his own timeline a few years ago.

"Doctor?" Astra placed her hand on his shoulder, her eyes filled with hundreds of questions that he doesn't know the answer to.

"I don't know," he answered. "Not yet, anyway," he quickly added then looked at his younger self. "We need to talk."

"Agreed," Past-Doctor nodded then looked at the Meta-Doctor. He instructed him to head back into the TARDIS then turned back to address his future self. "Let's talk in my TARDIS," he invited.

"After you," the Doctor agreed and stepped aside to let his younger self pass. He followed the other two Doctors into his old TARDIS but stopped before entering to address everyone else left behind. "Make yourselves feel at home everyone," he told his companions – past and present – before following the other two Doctors inside and closed the TARDIS door behind their bewildered companions.

* * *

**A/N2:** Sorry for the short chapter. I wasn't sure if I wanted to include this scene with the previous chapter or with the one after this, but in the end I figured this deserved to be a chapter of its own albeit a short one. I'm currently working on the next chapter so hopefully that gets finished & uploaded soon.


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